Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance
by ShardclawKusanagi
Summary: MGS series x anime multicrossover. Solid Snake's been framed by the Patriots and in order to clear his name, the anti Metal Gear group Philanthropy is reorganized, now under consisting of various anime characters from time and space.
1. The Cast of Characters

Author's note: I decided to include this handy guide into the character listing for the cast of this story to minimise confusion, as well give readers a gist as to who exactly will be part in this story. I do hope you find it useful and let me know if I have missed anyone important so I can include him or her that wasn't listed before.

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime/manga/game characters that will appear in this story, as they all belong to their respective owner and companies. Which really blows, I can really use the money they make off these guys…

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_**Games**_

**Metal Gear Solid series**

**SnakeEater/Subsistence, Portable OP:**

_John/Jack 'Naked Snake/Big Boss', Para-Medic, Major Zero, Signit, EVA, Frank Jaeger/Grey Fox, Gene, Python, Null, Elza, Ursula, Cunnigham._

**Sons of Liberty/Substance and Guns of the Patriots**

_David/'Solid Snake', Jack/'Raiden', Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich, Emma Emmerich, Mei-Ling, Naomi Hunter, Meryl Silverburgh, Roy Campbell, Solidus Snake, Liquid/Revolver Ocelot, Vamp, Fatman, Olga Gurlukovich, Sergei Gurlukovich, Helena 'Fortune' Dolph Jackson, Peter Stillman, Johnny Sasaki._

**Hourglass of Summer (A Hirameki/Anime Play-Bishoujo game)**

_Kotaro, Makimura, Ai Seno, Takeshi Tokieda, Kaho Serizawa, Mana Sawamura, Tomomi Yanagihara, Lee Jane._

**_Type-Moon Game Series_**

**Shingetsan Tsukihime/Lunar Legend Tsukihime **

_Nanaya Tohno, Arcueid Brunstud, Ciel, Akiha Tohno, Hisui, Kokaku, Arihiko Inui, Satsuki Yumitsuka, Nero Chaos, Roa the Eternal._

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_**Anime/manga series**_

**Oh My Goddess! **

_Kami-sama/The Almighty, Belldandy, Skuld, Urd, Peorth, Rind, Chrono, Ere, X, Mara, Hild, Keiichi Morisato, Megumi Morisato, Keima Morisato, Takano Morisato, Chihiro Fujumi, Toraichi Tamiya, Otaki Aoyama, Yamano Satoko, Sayoko Mishima, Toshiyuki Aoshima, Sora Hasegawa, Sentaro Kawanishi, Hijiri, Banpei-kun RX, Sigel, Mimawari-kun, Troubadour, Kodama, Hikari, Senrigen, Senbee._

_**Tenchi Muyo series/movies**_

**Tenchi Muyo OVA/Tv series (expecting Tenchi in Tokyo)**

_Tenchi Masaki, Kasuhito/Yosho Masaki Jurai, Nobuyuki Masaki, Rea Masaki, Tennyo Masaki, Asuza Jurai, Masaki Kamiki Jurai, Ryoko Hakubi, Washu Hakubi, Ayeka Jurai, Sasami/Tsunami Jurai, Kiyone Makibi, Mitsuki, Mihoshi Kuramitsu, Misao Kuramitsu, Mashisu Makibi, Ryo-Ohki, Nagi, Ken-Ohki, Kagato._

**No Need for Tenchi manga**

_Gohgei, Hishima, Minagi, Yume._

**Tenchi Muyo: Galaxy Police Transporter**

_Seina Yamada, Kiriko Masaki Jurai, Minaho Masaki, Airi/Itsuki Magma Masaki, Seto Kamiki Jurai, Amane Kaunaq, Ryoko Balta, Neju Na Melmas, Fuku, Noike Kamiki Jurai, Mitoto Kuramitsu, Minami Kuramitsu, Mikami Kuramistu, Kazuki Yotsuga, Amame, Alan, Barry, Cohen, Kai, Kenneth Barr, Rajau Ga Waura, Vega, Gyokuren, Karen, Hakuren, Suiren, Seriyo Tennan, Kyo Komachi, NB, Nobiko, Terrant Shank._

**Tenchi Muyo the Movie: Tenchi in Love**

_Achika Kiyone Masaki._

**Tenchi Muyo the Movie 2: Daughter of Darkness**

_Makuya Masaki, Yuzuha._

**Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden**

_Mahoro Ando, Minawa Ando/369, Suguru Misato, Kiyomi Kawahara, Hajime Hamaguchi, Sakura Miyuki, Rin Todokiri, Chizuko Oe, Saori Shikijo, Ryuga, Sera, Slash, Guri, Harune Miyuki, Natsune Miyuki, Akine Miyuki, Eimi Shiina, Yoshihiko Gunji, Hayato Daimon, Minato Hokaze, Masa, Nobu, Bernard, Felderance. _

**Hanaukyo Maid Team: La Verite**

_Taro Hanaukyo, Mariel, Cynthia/Grace, Konoe Tsurugi, Ichigo/Melon, Ringo/Marron, Sango/Lemon, Yashima Sanae, Ikuyo Suzuki, Ryuka Jihoh, Yuki, Shinobu, Felipino, Shiki-oh. _

_(Along with the number of two hundred plus random maids!)_

**Steel Angel Kurumi/Zero**

_Kurumi, Saki, Karinka, Nakahito, Kamahito, Nadeshiko, Reiko Amagi, Dr. Ayanokoji, Dr. Brandow, Dr. Walski, Yoshino Koganei, Eiko Kichijouji, Kaga, Kaori, Tsunami, Mikhail, __Excelia. _

**Please Teacher/Twins!**

_Mizuho Kazami, Hatsuo Kazami, Maho Kazami, Kei Kusanagi, Hyosuke Magamo, Matagu Shidou, Haruko Shidou, Maiku Kamashiro, Kousei Shimazaki, Minoru Edajima, Masami Yamada, Minna Miyafuji, Karen Onodera, Tsubaki Oribe, Koishi Herikawa, Kaede Misumi, Ichigo Morino, Konoha Edajima, Akina Sakawa, Futaba Mashita, Yuka Yashiro, Natchan, Gonta, Marie, Miruru._

**Chobits**

_Hideki Motosuwa, Hiroshi Shinbo, Minoru Kokubunji, Ueda Yasuhino, Chi, Sumono, Yuzuki, Kotoko, Freya, Takako Shimizu, Chitose Hibiya, Yumi Oomura, Yoshiyuki Kojima, Zima, Dita._

**Mahou Sensei Negima!**

_Negi Springfield, Takahatta T. Takamichi, Shizuna, Asuna Kagurazaka, Yue Ayase, Ayaka Yukihiro, Chisame Hasegawa, Nodoka Miyazaki, Konoka Konoe, Sakurako Shiina, Evangeline A.K. McDowell, Chachamaru Karakuri, Haruna Kiotome, Yuuna Akashi, Akira Ogouchi, Ako Izumi, Misora Kasuga, Ku Fei, Makie Sasaki, Setsuna Sakurazaki, Madoka Kugimya, Sayo Aizaka, Misa Kakizaki, Kaede Nagase, Nastumi Murakami, Rainyday Zazie, Chao Rin Shen, Satomi Hakase, Chiduru Naba, Fuuka Narutaki, Fumika Narutaki, Hatsuki Yotsuba, Kazumi Asakura._

**Maburaho**

_Kazuki Shikimori, Yuna Miyama, Kuriko Kazetsubaki, Rin Kamishiro, Elizabeth._


	2. The Prelude No One Expected

Disclaimer: There's no way on Earth I can ever own Metal Gear Solid and it characters, and the same goes for the characters of the Oh My Goddess series and manga. The story alone is mine, I tell you...ALL MINE! MU-HA-HA-HA-HA!

ShardclawK: Yes folks, better believe it...this is not a dream. This is the start of the sequel of probably one of my classic stories I've ever written and the first of it's crossover kind. Welcome one and all to the sequel to my ever so popular 'Oh my Metal Gear!' fic. First, I must take this time to say thanks to all who have reviewed before in the previous story, saying they want a sequel. People like GreyWolf4, windwingxs, RuneKnightPictures, DarkFusion himself, killa...you asked for it, you got it. I apologize for the delay though...I had to see about my other popular Metal Gear/ Evangelion fics before sitting down to get this thing started. Why is it that everyone loves my MGS crossovers so much? Oh, hell...

Before I get started, I must point out to those who haven't read either the first story, or played Metal Gear Solid (Twin Snakes is a nice alternative, but I haven't played it. sighs) to get a good grasp of the characters that will be in this fic and the of the MGS storyline. Also, this fic takes just around the Tanker Chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, a little while after the first story. And to those who don't know the pairings that made the fic so famous (or just don't remember them...)

Snake x Urd

Otacon x Megumi

Gosh, just thinking of those pairings really made me started this sequel, those two are some really awesome pairings second to the ones I created for COE, Snake x Misato and Otacon x Maya. And worry not about the length of the story, it's going to be a little longer than the first, as I plan at least two to three story arcs before I get to the finale, which won't be happening soon.

Just then, Megumi Morisato and Skuld steps in, wearing cute bunny girl cosplay.

ShardclawK: Hey, girls...why are you here?

Megumi: Oh, I just wanted to wish you good luck on starting this fic, but I also wanted to give you a warning.

ShardclawK: Oh? And that is?

Just then like that, Skuld ambushes me and lands her hammer on my head.

'KRAK!' 'KRAK!'

The author gets conked and stars can be seen flying around my head while bumps can be seen growing on my head.

Megumi: If I hear any more jokes about my behind, there will be more where that came from! Skuld, stay here and watch him, so his finger don't slip into typing something he may regret.

Skuld: You got it, Megumi!

ShardclawK: Aw, geez...better start the fic, before Skuld whips out the harisen if I mentioned how she's going to get tickled by Snake again later in the fic...

'TWACK! THWACK!' A couple swings of Skuld's harisen passed on my head afterwards.

ShardclawK: Ouch...as always, enjoy and don't forget to review!

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ShardclawKusanagi proudly presents:

Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

A sequel to Oh My Metal Gear!

Chapter 1: The Prelude No One Expected

* * *

He was far to completing his mission, but the night didn't give off any signs that things would go without a hitch. Clutching unto his M9, the cold and hard, bitter rain landed onto his Sneaking Suit without much of a hesitation. He made his rounds around the outer deck areas of the tanker, before finding a door to get inside.

He made sure the cold didn't affect him, he had to get warm or else he could get spotted by the enemy sentry that was stationed around the locker area of the tanker. Slipping into an automatic door, he got into a locker where he found ammo for his M9 and a Ration in the other. After as soon he shut himself in, he had to let it out.

"AAACHOO!" The American male sneezed. In his ear, a ringing was heard, as he touched his left ear. The Codec screen had been activated.

"Snake! Can't you try to be more quiet?" Otacon, the former Metal Gear engineer for the last model of that weapon spoke from his screen to his partner and his closest friend. "Have you forgotten that hijackers are in that area?"

Solid Snake stared at his friend, wiping his nose. "The weather really got to me this time..."

"Well, this is certainly not like in Shadow Moses, Snake. And it's not as warm either while we were back at Nekomi." Otacon replied.

"Ah, Nekomi...I remember that time we spent with Belldandy and her friends and family too well." Snake smiled as he remembered the people he met there when he discovered a version of REX that was built for Mara's needs. Thanks to Revolver Ocelot's betrayal, the Gear fell into Mara's possession, but it was the Goddess sisters and Snake himself that stopped it once and for all before it caused havoc. Since then, he and Otacon had become good to Belldandy, and her boyfriend and Keiichi Morisato and his sister, Megumi, whom has started a relationship with Otacon. All of the other people he met there were good to be with as well, such as Skuld, Belldandy's younger sister. Then, the oldest of Belldandy's sisters and certainly the most troublesome, was the one that caught Snake's attention.

(Urd...) he thought to himself, remembering her long, silvery hair, her beautiful face, that perfect figure and her naughty attitude. There something about her that sets her apart from Meryl, maybe it's because that there are a lot of things she needed to learn about human nature, and she can learn them from Snake, while he can learn a few things from Urd himself. Besides, it was part of the contract the Almighty made to get them together, as well to stop the magically enhanced REX.

"Snake, can you get your mind out of the gutter and focus on the mission at hand?" Otacon said. "I know you would rather be with them as much as I do, but we got to find out about what these hijackers want with Metal Gear. Try your best not to get spotted by the enemy, we still have to find and take the pictures for the new Metal Gear prototype."

"I got you, Otacon. Stay hidden and try not to stir much too commotion, is that it?"

"That's it." Otacon said. "I'm still trying to find out who are those guys that seized the tanker, other than the fact you claimed they are Russian."

"Okay, take your time. I'll get back to you if I run into anything interesting. Snake out." Snake said, stepping out of the locker and searching around for more items. Luckily, he found a Chaff grenade before he stepped out. As he did, he was inches away from a sentry's back. Instantly pulling out the M9, he held up the hapless sentry and shot the M9 at his head, a tranq dart embedded into his head. After he dropped on the floor in a deep sleep, Snake made sure to go for his dog tag before he got some ammo for the USP handgun, which he doesn't have in his possession yet.

He made his way to the door up north and then went into the further insides of the tanker to the galley areas. He had a long night ahead of him, and little did he know that it had a lot of surprises in store for him when he got to the control room of the tanker.

"Hm?" Snake thought to himself, as he saw a woman wearing a cap and a vest outside the deck in front of him. She had a handgun behind her, while she spoke onto the radio.

(Time to find out more about this...) Snake thought as he exited the room at the left side of the room.

* * *

"URD! You just have to get it out of hand tonight!" Skuld cried out to her older half demon, half goddess sister, the ever so attractive Urd. The older goddess only hid a remote from Skuld, who was still swinging her hammer at Urd.

"Kiddo, have you forgotten it's my turn to use it tonight?" Urd simply said, almost lazily. "In case you haven't forgotten, there are things that I consider important to get a try on."

"How can someone irresponsible such as you dare think you can comprehend with what I have to go through?" Skuld lamented, blowing a steam.

"You're still hard-headed to realize that an elegant adult like myself has the right to oversee such fragile equipment and information." Urd said with a devilish grin.

"Hey, can you two try to keep it down?" Keiichi Morisato opened the door in the room next to them. "People are trying to study over here."

"Sorry, K-1. If it wasn't for an excuse for a goddess standing next beside me..." Skuld said with her arms folded.

"I'll make you regret that, Skuld!" Urd growled, but seemed to calm down quickly. "But then again, I have no time to be overly concerned with the diminutive needs from you, Skuld. I have other important matters..."

She then threw the remote at Skuld, who caught it in time. Keiichi can only sigh deeply to himself, wondering just how he managed to survive to this day living with Urd and Skuld.

As Urd turned around to leave the room, Skuld smiled to herself. She knew what her half-sister meant by 'important matters'.

"Like fantasizing over Snake?" Skuld smirked.

Urd immediately stopped in her tracks. She grinned a bit as her right hand reached for the temple of her forehead, where the bandana Snake left with her was tied around her temple, just under her hairline. Since he left his bandana with her, she has been proud to wear it most of the time. She actually missed the amazing soldier who helped her and her sisters and friends stop Metal Gear REX, then afterwards, she was drawn closer to him as part of the contract The Almighty and Peorth had set up to have her experience having love for a human. She never regretted the arrangement, she felt lucky to be with someone like Snake.

"So what if I am?" Urd simply replied. "Are you...jealous?"

Skuld pouted at Urd, even if they wasn't watching each other. "Me? Jealous of you and Snake? Don't make me laugh! He may be much of a gentleman to you, but he's not high on my list of decent mannered people."

"Now, now, Skuld..." a young woman's voice said from behind her, a gentle hand on her shoulder. The younger goddess looked up and saw her older sibling, Belldandy, smiling at her. "Solid Snake may not be at the right of character at times, but he's still a good hearted warrior who's helped us in the past. And I also do seem to recall him being on your favourite list of people before he left."

"That's right..." Keiichi smiled to remembering the party they had. "I remembered how Snake started to tickle you in front of everyone and you laughed so much, that you were..."

"One more word and I'll crack you a new one, Keiichi!" Skuld angrily blurted out, waving her hammer at him, having to prefer not to remember that. "That was SO embarrassing of him to do that! And that no good sister is also responsible for that, too!"

"Oh, don't get too upset, kiddo. You were the one who begged for it." Urd simply smirked.

Skuld began to grumble to herself, while Keiichi playfully cowered from Skuld before she landed a hit. Belldandy stepped forward to converse with Urd.

"You must really miss him, don't you, Urd?" Belldandy asked.

"An incredible man like that?" Urd smiled back. "Of course I do...he really showed me things that I never thought were possible for someone like me. And in turn, I managed to teach him about how much his own life is worth to others."

"I'm pleased that you've finally found someone you can share your emotions with." Belldandy smiled at Urd. "I wonder what is it that Otacon and Snake himself are doing now..."

"I wish I knew too..." Keiichi said. "...but whatever it is, I hope they are safe."

Urd smiled to the people in the room. "Yeah, they should be. They have a job to do after all. And I'll be waiting for Snake when he gets back from his mission."

"Keiichi, how much more studying do you have to do?" Belldandy asked him.

"Only a half hour's work again. Yeesh..." he rubbed the back of his head. Belldandy only smiled a bit and took his hand.

"If you want me to, I can help you." She said. "I was planning to do some rune reading afterwards before bedtime, but if it's help that you desire..."

"Oh no...you don't have to bother yourself with that, Belldandy." Keiichi smiled at her. "If you want to, you can do your reading in my room where I'll get to concentrate better if you're around."

"That is so nice, Keiichi darling. Thank you." Belldandy said. "Well, we'll be seeing you too in the morning. Good night, Urd, good night, Skuld."

As Belldandy and Keiichi left the room, Urd decided to leave the room herself, but instead, headed to the garden outside. The gentle night wind graced her hair as she entered the garden, her thoughts were only on seeing Solid Snake again. But just after her mind drifted on thinking of Snake, the wind blew violently for awhile. Urd was holding unto the memento Snake left her, suddenly flew off and landed in a small pond nearby. She quickly sucked her teeth and went to pick it up, making sure it wasn't too drenched.

"What was that all about?" she thought to herself, holding on to it. (Can this be...an omen?)

* * *

In Keiichi's room, Belldandy was in the middle of her custom of reading runes on a tarot mat in front of her. Keiichi was seated on a table nearby, finishing up his studies. Belldandy shut her eyes as her hand rested inside the bag of rune stones, hoping there would be some good fortune in the future.

After the next stone was pulled out, her mouth escaped a gasp loud enough that Keiichi noticed.

"What's wrong, Belldandy?" Keiichi came across to look at Belldandy.

"The runes...something is going to happen tonight..." Belldandy spoke, trying to make sense of this revelation.

"What is going to happen?"

"I have no idea, Keiichi..." Belldandy got up. "I sense that Snake, wherever he is, will be needing help. I can't tell why, but..."

"What can we do from here to help him?" Keiichi asked. "Wait a minute...Peorth may know what's happening, should we at least contact her and tell her that Snake may be in trouble?"

"Probably, but I'm feeling that she may know what's going to happen, she may be step ahead to us." Belldandy said

* * *

"I don't not like the looks of this, Kami-sama. If things get out of hand..."

"You will not interfere until I give the order, Peorth. I know you want to help, but remember who you are dealing with."

"I know, I know...I'm only advising you to be careful this time around and do not blow your cover. The Patriots are well aware of any outside interference and will not standby to tolerate it."

"I guess the cyborg ninja suit is out of the question, huh?"

"Certainly. Since Snake has already known about you since you first met him, it's best that you go and assist him using your usual alias."

"And what about the System Force?"

"The Patriots may as well find a way to invade it again and try to upset the contract between Snake and Urd. I'll remain here to see that won't happen."

"Yes, Kami-sama. Understood." Peorth said. "I'll get set to assist Snake in due time."

ShardclawK: And that's the end of this chapter. I do hope everyone liked this little prelude to another great crossover thus far, as it will only get better. Sorry if it's short than my usual posting for my other fics, but that's the best I can think up for now till things pick up. I'm not sure how fast I can update this thing, but as soon things get cleared up in my other Metal Gear crossover fics, you'll be seeing some speedy updating. But for now, reviews, ideas and comments are appreciated, as it will only encourage me to make more chapters for this fic. See you all in the next chapter.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	3. In Deep Water, Part 1

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own either the Metal Gear Solid or Oh My Goddess franchises. Which in, my case, really sucks big time if you in need of money when you think about the two. MGS belongs to Konami and Hideo Kojima, while Oh My Goddess belongs to Kosuke Fujishima and Dark Horse Entertainment, the story is my original project.

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, dear readers. Writer's block for this story held me back for awhile, but now I'm willing to go on with this fic, as I have no intention of abandoning it. But at least I'm glad to see there are people who enjoyed the first chapter and waited for more. Thanks to all who reviewed, especially to my newest fans, desert-tiger and Night-Lancer. Well, I won't drag you any further, as I got a story to continue. Enjoy this update.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 2: In Deep Water, Part 1

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Belldandy had been on the phone as soon as the runes she read earlier predicted there was bound to be impending disaster, trying to get in contact with the Almighty or Peorth at least. From a distance, Keiichi and Skuld watched on as Bell talked on the phone.

"She's been there for quite awhile…maybe this is more serious than she thought." Keiichi said as he folded his arms.

"Yeah, I've never seen her like this before…unless she's panicking about you, that is." Skuld fumed while Banpei watched from behind. "I wonder what really is going on with Snake and Otacon right now."

"It could be trouble." Urd's voice simply said from behind the two, as they glanced at Urd holding unto Snake's wet bandana.

"Big sister…You sensed it too?" Skuld asked puzzled.

"Something's weird going on here…the atmosphere is just too unfamiliar unless someone dear to us is in grave danger." Urd said in a serious tone. Just then, Belldandy entered the room to tell everyone what she had talked about moments before.

"I just talked with the Almighty and he says there's been a new interference in the System Force." Belldandy said as she clasped her hands. "It was recorded that is was nearly the same strength as the one before during that incident at Nekomi Tech some time back"

"What could this mean then?" Skuld asked.

"Someone's trying to breach Snake and Urd's contract, even though it's not official yet." Belldandy replied as Urd looked at her in a bit of shock on her face.

"Someone like Mara?" Urd asked instantly. "But not even she has that amount of power to cause trouble for the System Force…"

"She's got a point…it would take a whole colony of bugs to infest the main system itself and gave it a virus." Skuld implied. "But does Kami-sama know what's going on with Snake for everyone to be one edge like this?"

"He has surveyed Snake and Otacon's movements since our meeting of him, just to ensure that they are safe wherever they go until the contract for him and nee-san is official. Now Snake is in a new mission over in the States in a tanker." Belldandy said, telling them of what she was told before.

"Well, that can't mean anything bad, right?" Keiichi spoke. "If he's on a mission doing his job, and we should know him enough by now to do his job right, there can't be any problem, right?"

"I'm afraid it's the opposite case, Keiichi-san." Belldandy said. "A great presence of malice has surrounded our friend…and this is surely not Mara's doing."

"Someone else who hates Snake enough must have set that entire trap as a mission, I just know it!" Urd shouted. "It must be that old man with the really old revolvers who we ran into last time who turned the tables on Mara. Revolver leopard…tiger…, darn, why did he name himself after an animal anyway? It's just makes no sense."

"Revolver Ocelot, you certainly don't remember anything important." Skuld said, causing Urd to step up to her.

"What was that? I'll have you know that I'm worried for Snake as much as you're probably are!" Urd said, causing Skuld to turn.

"I'm…I'm not worried of that grumpy man! What are you implying?" Skuld said, but in truth, she was scared as hell, thinking about of how Snake and Otacon are in grave danger. Before both Urd and Skuld got more depressed talking about this, Belldandy continued to talk.

"We shouldn't need to worry…Kami-sama had already sent Peorth to help Snake in any danger he will face there." Belldandy said.

"Wait…Peorth went off to help Snake?" Urd asked.

"Kami-sama said she insisted on going to help out." Belldandy said, as Skuld got closer and grabbed her dress.

"She didn't take that exoskeleton suit with her this time, did she?" Skuld asked.

"Of course not. That part also has me worried…" Belldandy replied. "She could very well be involved in the trap Snake's enemies have prepared for him…"

"So why are we still here?" Urd said, getting ready to leave. "We should be moving to help Snake as we…"

"No, Urd. We don't need to endanger ourselves getting involved, but we also have to prepare for any worst case that could happen even if our friends manage to make it out." Belldandy spoke, having almost not to admit it. Urd settled herself almost instantly and faced her sister.

"So what do we do?"

"Just pray and wait for Peorth to reply, I do certainly hope they will be alright…" Belldandy spoke, as Skuld suddenly stood up with a clenched fist and a determined look in her eyes.

"I don't know about you guys, but I won't just sit around and wait for something to happen. I still have those communication devices that I invented a while back that works just like Snake's Codec, I'm going to see if I can use that and my genius to cook up a global positioning system to find Snake, Otacon and Peorth." Skuld said.

"Sounds like a good idea." Keiichi nodded in agreement. "Belldandy, maybe we too should prepare ourselves, just in case."

"Alright, we will do just that." Belldandy said, as she turned to Urd. "Are you coming, Urd?"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm with you." Urd spoke as she followed Belldandy and Keiichi. It seemed they have a long night ahead of them as they started to prepare for a possible worst case scenario crafted by Snake's unknown enemies. Urd can't help but not stop worrying about what could happen to Solid Snake if Peorth doesn't act quickly to help him.

(I do hope he will be okay…the most I could do here is try and support everyone here till something happens.) Urd thought to herself as she only hoped for the best.

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Back on the tanker, Snake was in the middle of a gunfight with a Russian female, who wore a white vest and army combat jeans on the outer deck of the tanker. Her head was shaved off any remaining signs of hair, leaving only a faint view of a new set of growing, faded hair. She fired her USP handgun at Snake while she continuously ran from various directions behind the crates that distanced her and Snake, who was armed with only his M9.

That woman was known as Olga Gurlukovich. Her meeting with Snake before didn't get off the right foot as she attempted to kill him by surprise before.

"I've been on the unit since I was born. I grew up on the battlefield. Conflict and victory were my parents." The Russian woman spoke at Snake while she fired at Snake. "The unit is my life, my family. We've shared everything -- all the bad and all the good. I have no one -- nothing except the unit. Nothing else matters to me! Whoever you are, you're not stopping us!"

Snake took his time and aimed his M9 whenever Olga stopped firing and fired a shot to her leg, making her stumble a bit from the affects of the drug that the tranquilizer dart had. Olga didn't give in too soon, as she pulled a pin from a grenade and threw it at Snake, then fired a barrage of bullets at her in order to flank him. Snake had moved out of the way where the grenade would have met him and rolled under the blanket of bullets from Olga's fired USP.

Getting into another safe distance, Snake fired a shot at the spotlight behind Olga, enabling him to see the enemy before him better. By now, Olga began to slump around from the tranquilizers she was hit with. Her aiming was deterred as Snake stayed out of the firing range of Olga's USP. When the bullet clip from her gun has reached empty, Snake suddenly popped up from his hiding place and fired a tranq dart at Olga's temple, finally causing her to fall over unconscious.

With his gun still trained on her, Snake approached a sleeping Olga and kicked away the USP. It was then the rain began to fall once more, and as Snake raised his head to see an unusual object…a small looking flying craft with a camera on top. Snake could only watch as it flies away.

"CYHPER?" Snake asked himself as he decided to contact Otacon via the Codec.

"Otacon, the ship appears to be under their control. The men have Russian gear, but I haven't been able to find out anything else about their origin." Snake spoke.

"I know who they are." Otacon replied.

"You do?"

"We've ID'd the old man from the photo before."

"Who is he?"

"Sergei Gurlukovich." Otacon replied.

"Gurlukovich…" Snake recognized the name. "Isn't he supposed to be one of Ocelot's allies?"

"Yeah...the GRU colonel. He's the one Ocelot was supposed to meet up with, after Shadow Moses..."

"So, they're after Metal Gear..."

"Everything's changed. This is not going to be as simple as we thought." Otacon said.

"You could say that. I saw a surveillance remote just now, it looked like the Cypher." Snake replied.

"A Marine Cypher-T?" Otacon asked.

"No, Army."

"First the Marines, then the Russians and now the Army...?"

"You're right; this isn't going to be simple." Snake simply answered.

"Snake…There's something I have to tell you." Otacon spoke, with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"What?"

"We didn't dig up this info about the new Metal Gear…on our own. Not like usual..."

"How did you find out, then?"

"It was a tip. An anonymous tip." Otacon confessed.

"Anonymous? You've never trusted those, so why would you start now?"

"I…ah…I have a younger sister. A stepsister. We have different parents. I only knew her for two years." Otacon explained.

"You've never mentioned her before. So...?"

"The sender of the tip was 'E.E.'" Otacon replied.

"E.E."?

"Her name is Emma, but I always called her 'E.E.' for short..." Otacon continued.

"Emma Emmerich?"

"Yeah. It just caught my eye, you know? I figured it was a coincidence, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. There's really no one there who knows about her." Otacon continued.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Over 10 years ago."

"So, you think it's a trap? To lure us out here...?" Snake asked.

"I don't know. After I got the tip, I did break into the Pentagon system to get confirmation."

"Okay..." Snake simply answered.

"Watch your back, Snake. Maybe I screwed up somehow..."

"I've got a light-equipped USP; I can take them on now. There's no ammo, but it takes a 9mm, just like the Marines' M9. I'll find those somewhere around here." Snake said, now taking Olga's USP.

"Don't raise too much racket with that thing."

"I hear you." Snake said as he turned off the Codec and moved on. Snake found a thermal goggles and a wet cardboard box on the other side of the tanker's deck and started making his way back, when he suddenly saw another set of footprints leading back into the cabin areas. Cautiously, he started to follow the prints back inside until he met a particular female, dressed in a green vest and green combat jeans in the hallway.

"Meryl?" Snake asked, his USP pointed at the mysterious woman. The woman put up her hands and started to chuckle.

"Now, now, Snake…what would make you think I'm your old girlfriend? Besides, I'm far better looking than she will ever be." The woman turned around and surprised Snake with her appearance, causing him to lower his gun.

"What are you doing here, Peroth?" Snake asked, as Peroth approached him. "This is not a place for goddesses like you to get involved."

"You sure know how to treat a woman…" Peorth said. "And after I came all the way to help you and Otacon out."

"You didn't answer my question." Snake asked as he and Peorth started to trek deeper into the tanker. "Why are you here?"

"Snake, I know this may be hard to believe, but it seems your enemies are up to their old tricks, and if I must include, some new ones as well." Peorth said. "Have you ever heard of the Patriots?"

"Yeah, Ocelot mumbled something about it when he tricked Mara, and she seemed to know about them too." Snake replied.

"It seems Ocelot and the Patriots have caused trouble for the Almighty and the System Force again. I'm here to make sure that nothing happens to you that endanger your life, because now the Force is not active between you and Urd to protect you this time." Peorth explained.

"So this was a trap from the beginning?"

"It would seem that way." Peorth said. "What I don't understand why the Patriots would go through this amount of trouble just to…"

"We can focus about it when we find Metal Gear…I've gotten too deep in this to back out now." Snake said. "I know how concerned you guys must be for me, but I can take care of this."

"You wouldn't need to trouble yourself…if we're heading down below into the engine room; I've taken care of most of the sentries there." Peorth said.

"You didn't go parading around as that ninja again, didn't you?"

"Of course not…that suit wasn't designed for someone with my figure anyway." Peorth said. Snake only shook his head as he and Peorth carefully trekked into the engine room of the Discovery, passing the unconscious sentries that had rose petals covering the areas they were hit with.

"Some of that goddess magic of yours at work?" Snake asked.

"Makes a nice substitute for tranquilizers any day." Peorth said as they ascended upstairs into a new room, where at the end, infrared sensors met them. Snake put his hand in front of Peorth before she took another step into the sensors' area. It was then Otacon contacted Snake via Codec.

"Snake, there's another set of infrared sensors in place. If you touch that, the explosives will detonate and that ship will be pulverized." Otacon said.

"I'm not in the mood to go sleep with the fishes, but…there are too many sensors. Looks like I'll have to find another way." Snake spoke.

"No need to worry. There's a way through. Take a close look -- do you see the thing with blinking green lights right next to the explosives? That's the control unit for the sensors. Destroy that and the sensors stop functioning." Otacon explained. "You can't get in close enough to touch it, so you'll have to shoot it out. But the M9's knockout rounds won't work. The USP you picked up should do the trick. Use that gun."

"Gotcha. By the way, I got a special guest as company with me…she happens to be one of Belldandy's associates." Snake spoke. "Otacon, meet Peorth."

"Well, I wouldn't consider myself an associate for Belldandy, but…" Peorth spoke from her Codec. "I'm here under the Almighty's orders."

"Really? Is something the matter that would have you being there with Snake?" Otacon asked.

"Just this really bad feeling we have that something big is going happen." Peorth explained.

"At least she's a big help up this point, Otacon." Snake spoke. "She took care of most of the sentries on the way to the engine room."

"Well, you'll probably needing all the help you can get, but just remember not to do as much as flirt with her. You are Urd's property after all…" Otacon spoke.

"Stop getting funny ideas about it!" Snake replied, as he fired at the device controlling the SEMTEX, shutting it down. After the sensors deactivated, Snake and Peorth proceeded into the long, dark hallway of the Discovery tanker, where they heard an announcer talk over the speakers.

"Verrazano Bridge checkpoint passed. All non-essential personnel, report to the holds in 10 minutes time for the scheduled briefing session with the Commandant. You are ordered to continue manning your posts until that time." The voice from the speakers said. Snake equipped his thermal goggles as he and Peorth walked into the poorly lit hallway, looking out for any surveillance cameras and sentries, and taking them out as the went along.

"Snake, are you in yet? Have you made it to the holds?" Otacon asked.

"It's taking longer than I expected. We've already passed the Verrazano Bridge." Snake replied.

"All right. We'll just use another recovery point."

"They may be planning to change course."

"What?"

"And now, the exits to the deck are all sealed." Peroth said.

"What are they planning?"

"If they get Metal Gear, we're going right off the fringe." Snake said as they finally entered the hold, where they were on a balcony, overlooking a huge room. Two dozen or so soldiers lined up to watch large projection screens can be seen at the end of the room, as the image showed the Commandant, Scott Dolph giving his speech.

"The men down here are definitely Marines." Snake spoke.

"If the deck is sealed off, they have no way of knowing that the ship's been taken over." Otacon said.

"I'm not interested in fighting these guys. The weapons won't do me much good here."

"Can you see Metal Gear?"

"No. We'll have to go around to the bow. They have some serious defences here. I doubt the recent arrivals want to blast their way through the Marines either." Snake said.

"Wonder where they're headed."

"I don't know... Not the beach, that's for sure. We have to get to Metal Gear past them…follow my lead." Snake said, as he and Peroth took their time and got unto a ladder which they climbed down till they met the ground. Sneaking past behind the unsuspecting Marines, they found a hollow vent shaft they used as a short cut which they used to get underneath the Marines and headed straight to the end of the room, which they got into with ease. Peorth, despite her appearance and nature as a goddess, knew how Snake operated and was able to quickly adapt to the situation.

Soon, they found themselves in the room where Metal Gear RAY stood, menacing and towering over them as if it was an untouchable force to be reckoned with. Peorth stood in shock to see a new variation of Metal Gear standing right before her.

"Metal Gear…?" Peroth asked Snake as he nodded.

"Their newest model…too bad destroying it is not on tonight's agenda." Snake said, taking out his camera. "With photographic evidence, we can focus on setting out on getting those who were responsible in creating this Metal Gear, the Marines."

"So, how do we get this done?" Peorth asked.

"Otacon needs four shots from different perspectives, and then I should access that terminal over there to send them to him." Snake said, having been told about how this was done about a hundred and something times before.

"Then we leave, right?"

"Yeah, that's all there is to it."

"It should be a piece of cake then…" Peorth said, as she stood a distance away from the Marines vision. "Don't keep me waiting."

Snake only grumbled a bit as he began to sneak around various areas around RAY and started to take pictures of the RAY from the front-right, the front, the front-left, and a close-up of the 'MARINES' marking on the prototype. The whole trek took him some several minutes, while Peorth waited on Snake to come back to the workstation terminal where he uploaded the pictures.

"We're just about done here." Snake said as he was done with his business. Peroth stood up firmly and faced Snake.

"So, just how are we getting out of this tanker?" Peorth asked.

"Why are you asking me? You're supposed to be a Goddess, aren't you? Surely you can conjure up some kind of escape plan" Snake spoke.

"Not even I can have solutions for everything, you know." Peorth said, before she and Snake watched the Marines noticed someone from the background was clapping after the meeting was dismissed and the Marines along with the Commandant had saluted.

"Excellent speech, my friend." A voice with a Russian accent spoke from behind Dolph.

"Who the…?" Dolph asked as he turned to see the figure stepped out from under RAY to show himself.

"The gift of the silver tongue -- they say it's a mark of a good officer – and of a liar." The Russian spoke. "Americans are too in love with the sound of their own voice to speak the truth.

"Identify yourself." Dolph said, as several Marines started to point their guns at the Russian.

"I am Shalashaska! Also called Revolver-" the man spoke as Snake finished the sentence along with him. "Ocelot!"

"What do you want?" Dolph asked.

"This machine will be quite useful." Ocelot replied.

"Are you planning to steal this thing?"

"Steal? No, I'm simply taking it back." Ocelot said, all the while Snake and Peorth came closer to get a better look at the situation. Right from behind Dolph, Sergei took Dolph captive and held his gun at him, while the Marines now began to point at Sergei instead.

"Nobody moves, understood?" Ocelot spoke as several sentries swooped down from above RAY and started to unbind it, while there are others who had trained their guns on the Marines. The Marines slowly backed off from Ocelot.

"That's it…no one has to die needlessly." Ocelot said as the drama unfolded. "We're getting closer to the target, so get moving."

"What do you intend to do with RAY -- sell it on the streets?" Dolph asked while being held as Sergei's captive.

"I was raised in Snezhinsk, formerly known as Chelyabinsk-70, the nuclear research outpost." Sergei explained.

"What are you talking about?" Dolph asked.

"After the Cold War ended, my home was bought out by the Americans."

"Is there a point to this sad story?" Dolph asked which got Gurlukovich angry and drills the barrel into the Commandant's head.

"Not that you would understand. Land, friends, dignity...all sold to the highest bidder -- the United States of America. Even the technology that gave birth to these weapons are Russian, developed by us!" Sergei said.

"What do you intend to do?"

"Russia will rise again -- and RAY is the key." Gurlukovich said as he whispers into the Commandant's ear.

"I regret to inform you that I have no intention of selling Metal Gear. As I said, I came to take it back." Ocelot said as he walks away from the two a bit then turns back around. "Yes returned. To the 'Patriots'!"

The Commandant seems to have recognized the name. "The "La-li-lu-le-lo"! How's that...possible?"

Sergei starts to pull back the Commandant and yells at Ocelot. "Ocelot, you...! Have you sold us out?"

"I was never in your employ, Gurlukovich..." The Russian gunslinger chortled.

"Are you still in league with Solidus...?' Sergei asked.

"No hard feelings, Colonel. Mother Russia can rot, for all I care." Ocelot said.

"Since when, Ocelot! When did you turn?"

"I'm glad you noticed comrade. I abandoned "her" during the Cold War." Ocelot said." Metal Gear only has room for one! Gurlukovich, you and your daughter will die here."

"Damn you!" Sergei shouted as he shoves the commandant forward. At the same time, Ocelot removes and throws his coat into the air.

"Die, you dog!" Sergei said as he draws his weapon and aims at Ocelot. With lightning fast speed, Ocelot draws his revolver and shoots at the Colonel. The bullet sails through Ocelot's coat and meets its target. Gurlukovich's bullet misses and strikes the Commandant in the back. The Commandant falls to the floor, dead. Gurlukovich falls to his knees, screaming in pain.

"Sergei! Looks like you were long overdue for retirement." Ocelot said as he releases his revolver and let's it fall to the floor.

"Traitorous dog…" Sergei said as he dropped to the floor. The other soldiers, who have seen their leader fall, train their guns on Ocelot, but the gunslinger draws a second revolver and unloads all the bullets on the sentries around him, killing them all. After twirling it around his finger, he placed it back into the holster and pulls out a detonator.

"Show's over! If you wish to live, I suggest you run now! This ship is still in the Lower New York Harbour. You may yet make it to shore if you swim for your life!" Ocelot spoke as he pressed the button, detonating the SEMTEX. The explosions rocked the tanker, and water was soon flooding inside it.

"Damn it! He's getting to get to that Metal Gear!" Snake shouted as he started to waddle through the water to get to Ocelot, leaving Peorth behind.

"Wait, Snake…what am I supposed to…" Before Peorth could finish, she looked around at the disaster surrounding her. She then got an idea.

(Most of these people here will get caught up in the sinking tanker if I don't give them a hand.) Peorth said. (I guess this is why Kami-sama asked me to tend to this personally. I just hope I could pull it off…)

While the hold was getting filled with water, Snake was already in front of RAY and Ocelot, as he pointed his USP at his old foe and called out his name. "Ocelot!"

Revolver Ocelot noticed Snake, but soon after his right arm begins to twitch and convulse, as he let out an unearthly scream.

"Arrrrrgh!" Ocelot shouted, grabbing his arm. For a few moments, the scream continued, as the sleeve of Ocelot's coat was ripped and then looks down at Snake after the screaming stopped.

"It's been a while, brother." Ocelot spoke, but his voice was different, as it carried a British tone.

"Who are you?" Snake asked, pointing his USP at Ocelot.

"You should know who I am."

"Liquid?" Snake said, now realising the tone of his voice.

"Not so young anymore, eh, Snake? You're drowning in time." Ocelot/Liquid said as he walks a bit toward the cockpit of RAY. "I know what it's like, brother."

"It was no wonder Naomi passed you over for the FOXDIE program." Ocelot/Liquid said, before his right arm of Liquid/Ocelot begins to go haywire again.

"Aaarrrr! Out -- get out of my mind! Liquid..." Liquid/Ocelot shouted as Ocelot bites his own right arm. But it was Liquid that was once again who took control.

"The price of physical prodigy... Few more years and you'll be another dead clone of the old man." Liquid spoke. "Our raw materials are vintage, brother. Big Boss was in his late fifties when they created his copies. But I -- I live on, through this arm!"

"Liquid's arm?" Snake asked, before the platform under him rocked from an explosion underwater that knocks Snake off the platform. He screams and falls into the water below. Peorth looked on in shock as she saw Snake went under and dived under after him. Meanwhile, Sergei Gurlukovich floats in the water of the flooding tanker, blood gushes from his wound.

"Olga..." Sergei said, before he sank underwater. His last thoughts are of his daughter. Several bodies float in the water, including the Marine Commandant. Meanwhile, Liquid leaps into RAY's cockpit and activates the "nuclear equipped, walking, deathmobile."

Below, Peorth had already got Snake and the two took their time to reach the platform and gasps for air.

"You don't have what it takes after all." Liquid's voice said as the Metal Gear RAY smashes into the ceiling. "You're going down, Snake, with this tanker!"

Snake and Peorth attempted to run, but RAY smashes into the platform. The force sends Snake flying into a wall and away from Peorth, knocking him unconscious. Up above, several Marines are trying to stop Metal Gear RAY from escaping. They fire several rounds and grenades at the beast, but all in vain. Liquid turns to them, lifts Metal Gear's leg and crushes them and the catwalk. Down below, Snake regains consciousness and calls Otacon over the Codec.

"Otacon, we have a problem..." Snake said, as he and Peorth watched

RAY sticks its head into the water and begins "drinking" some of it into an opening. The armour tone of the Ray changed colour as it took in some of the water then it removes its head from the water. The head section of Metal Gear then opens up and arms cannon. It uses the water as a high pressured laser and cuts a hole into the wall of the tanker. Water gushes into the hold and Snake is taken away by it.

Otacon and Peorth both shouted for Snake as he was taken further into the water. :

"Snake! Snaaaake!"

On the outside of the sinking tanker, Metal Gear swims toward the opening of the ship. It the bursts through the haul and lands on top of the doomed tanker, splitting it in half. A few seconds later, Snake surfaces and gasps for air, only to be met by the formidable Metal Gear. Ocelot views Snake from inside the cockpit. He is speaking to someone over a radio, now in his normal self.

"No problems...proceeding as planned, sir." Ocelot said as he then used RAY to back flips into the water, sending a tidal wave toward Snake. It washes over our hero, and Snake disappears under the waves. The only thing in Snake's mind at the time was one person who he had met before and was very special to him. He wasn't going to give up easily on not being together with her once more.

"Urd…" Snake muttered in the waters as he went under deeper. He thought this was the time he had finally met his death, until a hand suddenly reached under and pulled him up from under the sea water.

"Snake! Hang on! We got you!" Otacon shouted, as he and Peorth held his arm and pulled him up. Snake began to cough out the water he has swallowed. They found themselves on a life boat, one of a set that had other Russians and Marines that weren't caught in the sinking tanker.

"Otacon…it was a set up all along…" Snake tried to speak, but Otacon already patted his back to help him relax.

"Snake, we can't stay around here forever!" Otacon spoke. "We got to get to land as soon as possible."

"I don't think getting back to the States will do any good…" Peorth said. Both Otacon and Snake looked at her in amazement. "You two need to disappear where the authorities won't find you. I'll handle the Marines and the Russians Ocelot betrayed."

"She's got a point, Snake. After this incident, I don't think it will be safe for us to just be about any more." Otacon said.

"Then where else should we go?" Snake asked only to come to a realization. "Unless, we could get to…"

"Already ahead of you." Peorth answered, knowing his answer. Meanwhile, Metal Gear RAY glides through the depths. Ocelot continues to speak to the radio.

"...Yes, at the location we discussed. Yes. I have photographic evidence of Snake on the scene, as well as the interloper goddess, Peorth. The Cypher was most useful...I look forward to tomorrow morning's news flash." Ocelot spoke. "I would say the Marine Corps' plans are on indefinite hold. Yes, of course, Mr. President..."

As RAY veers off, a figure who was watching the entire event unfold was watching and enjoying what took place. The figure wore clothing for the rainy weather and was almost unrecognizable, until the gleam in her fangs gave off her identity.

"So, Ocelot…my old enemy has himself a new toy." The figure said to itself, having a feminine tone. "And just before I could execute my revenge on him tonight. Well, no matter…I will just have to revaluate and adjust to the situation. Knowing the situation, Snake and Otacon may as well go into hiding after this and what other place they would go than to Belldandy's home?"

The figure looked up and revealed itself to be Mara, who was smirking from ear to ear.

"Yes…this has gotten quite intriguing indeed. But things are now getting started, and I have some delicious twists I would like to add to the mix!" Mara said. "Soon…Ocelot, Belldandy and Snake…all those measly traitors will feel my true power as I will exact my vengeance on them all!"

With an evil cackle, Mara used her powers to teleport away from the scene. What plot she has in mind for her enemies, no one knows…

And so ends the Tanker Chapter...

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ShardclawK: Looks like things aren't looking too good for Snake and Peorth now, huh? Let's hope that they will be okay by the next chapter…but what will Ocelot do now since he has RAY, and what exactly was Mara doing watching the entire event unfold at the sidelines? We already can guess she wants revenge against Ocelot for what he did in the previous story, but we all know by now she is up to something nasty again…

I do hope that I haven't bothered most of you with detailing less action with Snake's part, I only needed to focus on the more significant parts of the Tanker chapter as Peorth is with him, and while the other Goddess sisters find out what happened with Snake, so as to bring this part of the arc to a close, I can finally get to the more interesting parts of this story in the future updates, heh-heh. Hope you will like what I have in store.

Which brings me to two things leading to the next chapter: One, I'm grateful for the new current Oh My Goddess anime series, which I'm also going to use future references later in this story (I may also make reference to the manga as well, since now I got online access to the complete collection! Yay!), so fans of that series will be in store for some pleasurable surprises. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out, so look around the net for sites which should have fansubs for this series. Most likely if you can get from Animeyuki, your chances are good. The next thing I will want to announce is that I'm also crossing two other anime in this story shortly, but I will keep one of them a secret till much later on in the fic. I do hope this will also make some people happy as well, since one of the characters from the other anime will show up as soon as the next chapter!

Next Chapter: After being rescued by Peorth, Snake and Otacon have no alternative but to head straight to Japan to hide at Belldandy's and K-1's home! How will the Goddess sisters react to what has happened on the Hudson River and what will Snake do in the meantime while he's hiding? And to make things worst, the Morisato residence gets some 'surprise' guests! Here's a hint: Two of them knows Urd VERY well! How will they react to Snake and Urd being together? You will have to find out in the next chapter of this story! See you in the next update!

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	4. In Deep Water, Part 2

Disclaimer: As always, MGS belongs to Konami/Kojima Productions, OMG is the property of Kosuke Fujishima and Dark Horse comics, and Tenchi Muyo belongs to Hitoshi Okuda, AIC/Pioneer and Viz Comics, I do not own any of these characters as well as the characters from the next anime that will be showing up in this chapter, but boy, if I did, I'd invite all of them over to a big party and have fudge for dessert.

ShardclawK: Well, well, well…I was surprised to see the lot of you enjoy the throwing in of the Tenchi Muyo characters in this story from the last update, I know this fic is going to be even more enjoyable for you to take in now, because of the insane, enjoyable plot I have in store. Thanks to those who reviewed so far, I promise I will do what I can to make the Tenchi cast as uber cool as they can be, especially if they will be involved in what could be another one of my cool MGS/anime crossover classic stories.

Just before I can go on, Ayeka, Kiyone and Mihoshi stepped in wearing skin tight, body hugging outfits with provocative colours.

Ayeka: Shardclaw, just are we going to show up next in this story?

Mihoshi: Yes, we do have fans that are just as eager to see us and the rest of the cast in it as well, you know. Not to mention the girls from Mahoromatic are getting rather…antsy for waiting for their appearance as well.

ShardclawK: Patience, ladies, it will happen at a timing. I want to take the pace of the story one step at a time and do something different, yet cool at the same time. So, please bear with the waiting for just a bit longer, okay?

Kiyone: You'd better hold true to your end of the bargain, or else we'll not hold back in making you 'change' your mind about the timing, if you know what you mean.

ShardclawK: It's a good thing 'she' from that particular anime hasn't made her appearance yet, or else I'll be scolded for dressing up the girls like this. Anyway, here's probably one of the best chapters of the story you'll get so far, because it has a lot of surprise guest appearances and twists. Enjoy as always.

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Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 4: Unfurled Plans

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Ryoko and Washu sat in the Morisato residence' living room couch, their stares intently on Snake in case he tried anything funny, while Urd sat next to him and Belldandy and Skuld stood nearby.

"Well, Urd, can you explain yourself why do you have a criminal living here?" Ryoko asked, demanding a good explanation.

"It's not what you two think, there's a perfectly good reason why he's here with us, so don't go on jumping to conclusions just yet, Ryoko." Urd replied. "Washu, haven't you at least been teaching your daughter to behave herself around guests instead of seeing about your crazy experiments?"

"Wait a minute…the two of you are related?" Snake asked suddenly, as he found it hard to believe that they actually were.

"No one asked you!" both Washu and Ryoko barked at Snake in unison, which caused him to back off a bit.

"I guess that answers the question…" Snake simply said, as Belldandy spoke.

"Ryoko, sorry for not telling you ourselves as soon as we did, but we are protecting Snake and his friend from some potentially dangerous people. We had to help them keep a low profile by letting him stay here." Belldandy said.

"Belldandy, we can take your word anytime about the things you say, you can't lie since you are a Goddess." Washu said. "Besides…I'm not really the type to have a grudge of one of your guests unless I know what really happened to have the famous Solid Snake here."

"Washu! I can't believe you're going to listen to their story." Ryoko protested.

"We're not only guests of these people, but old time friends, Ryoko. And besides, if Tenchi was here with us, he would know exactly how to deal with that temper of yours." Washu said, now smiling at Snake. "You got to excuse my daughter; she's really brash all the time."

"Uh, not a problem." Snake replied as he got a glare from Ryoko, then he turned to Urd. "You think they will listen?"

"They are good people, Snake, despite their weirdness." Urd replied. "Besides, if Ryoko tries anything to hurt you, she will have to go through me first and knowing our age differences, she probably still doesn't have a chance against me after a few centuries."

Ryoko folded her arms and grumbled. "Don't go there, Urd. Anyway, Solid Snake, what is it that happened on that tanker?"

"Looks like I have to go into explaining everything once more…" Snake said.

"I'll help along with the details as well." Urd said, having received a nod from Snake. "Okay, you guys, here's how it started. It happened long before the events of last night occurred…"

Urd began to tell the story of her and her sisters encounter with Snake when Nekomi Tech was taken over by terrorists to Washu and Ryoko, which were both stunned to hear it was actually true.

"I remember hearing about that some time ago over the news…" Ryoko spoke.

"Yeah, at least the good thing was there weren't any serious incidents that lead to casualties…" Washu said.

"That's not the half of it." Skuld cut in, having to share her side of the story, which told about how Snake, herself and her two sisters helped one another in uncovering the leaders' intention behind the takeover, not to mention the naming of the ones involved, which caused Ryoko to jump at the calling of Mara and her teaming up with the dangerous Revolver Ocelot.

"What? Why was Mara involved in the takeover?" Ryoko asked out of shock.

"I take it that you don't sit well with Mara too, huh?" Snake asked, making Ryoko nod at him.

"Yeah, that's right." Ryoko said. "As the same I bet with you and that Revolver Ocelot fella she teamed up with."

"You got that right." Snake replied. "He's the one who set Mara up and was only using her just for the Metal Gear REX's battle data and she wasn't too happy about it."

"So she decided to take her frustration out on us by using that REX that was impenetrable to Goddesses magic power." Skuld said. "But we showed that worthless heap of junk something, didn't we, big sister?"

"It was only because Snake was familiar in taking down Metal Gears, Skuld dear." Belldandy replied. "If it wasn't for him, I'd fear to imagine what the heavens would be at this moment…not to mention mankind."

"Yeah, none of us wouldn't be here right now if Snake didn't show up." Urd said.

"Okay, so from what we summed up, this guy mutually helped you take down a military weapon before it caused havoc for everyone else. I guess that made you their buddies, so I guess we can let that slide." Washu spoke, placing her hand on her chin. "Now, with that aside, we want to know what really happened last night with that tanker and why would he be here."

Snake nodded along with the Goddess sisters, ready to explain what had happened the previous night their story to Washu and Ryoko.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ah! Resurrected again!" Mara's voice echoed, as she stepped out of a coffin in a secret dark room. She was dressed in her usual dark, menacing robe and all around her room, were drawing and black boards, featuring schematics to inventions and potion formulas.

"A rest is just what I needed after a hard day's work of plotting revenge…" she said, as she sat back on her couch and took up the newspaper articles. Most of them were about the tanker incident in the Hudson River. She knew clearly that Snake was framed and was pronounced dead by the so-called Patriots, who covered up the truth regarding the tanker.

"First…I need to find out more about the Patriots and who they are…" Mara spoke to herself. "If these guys can control even the media this easily, I can consider them some worthy allies."

But she thought back quickly when Ocelot betrayed her back at Nekomi and said he was on their side. This angered Mara a bit as she remembered the fact.

"Then again, the Patriots are the enemy, as well. But they may have powerful resources from what I had gathered." Mara said to herself, remembering the connected events of world history that can link them to the Patriots. If Hild actually got word about the Patriots' duties, she would be so proud of herself.

"Still, Ocelot has quite the influence under the Patriots' power and they have been around for awhile…I have to be extra careful around him this time around." Mara said to herself. She took her time to plot this carefully as not to make any slip ups.

She then looked at an old historical article of the world's events and bounced up something interesting. Accounts of alien invasions during the 1980's were reported among the annals of Hell's historical recordings of the Earth's events opened up before Mara. The Patriots were not the only ones with vital information to such secret information such as this; Mara had been around much longer than they had.

"How typical of the Patriots…thinking they can cover up a bunch of alien invasions. But…I have never have seen anything like this before…" Mara said as she started to read. The hostile aliens were called SAINT and attacked the Earth civilization countless times. There existed a secret organization that was formed to fend off the invaders, known as VESPER, whose hopes lied heavily on a powerful and perfect combat android, codenamed V1046-R. Her given name is Mahoro.

"A young girl like this...she can be very useful." Mara said to herself, now looking for the information on Mahoro. Since the long war against the aliens ended, she had been in retirement from duty, but there was a catch: She was currently living on a countdown timer of her lifespan, the best of which only gave her 398 days until she shuts down. If she were still in her combat armour, her given time would be only 38 days. Searching for a picture, she found something even better and found a video file containing Mahoro in battle.

Mahoro looked like an average fourteen year old girl, medium height with dark-blue, long hair tied into a yellow ribbon on top. She had on a red and orange skin tight battle uniform, with shoulder plates and extended armour for her arms. Her legs were outfitted with white combat boots. She was facing off three of SAINT's humanlike aliens in a ravaged battlefield. Using superhuman agility, Mahoro dashed quickly to send a flying high kick that instantly blew open the alien's face area, then flipping into a cartwheel over it to send a slice like back kick on another alien who was unsuspecting for Mahoro's attack. This left Mara impressed.

"Yes, yes! She IS perfect!" Mara exclaimed, getting on the edge of her seat. "I can definitely use her in my plans against Ocelot!"

Mahoro stopped her attack and suddenly, her right hand started to glow in an emission of energy. Charging at two of the SAINT's aliens, she wrapped the energy from her hand and quickly eviscerated them on contact in such lightning fast speed. Mara started to clap in response.

"V1046-R Mahoro, huh? Well, now…I guess a meeting is in order for both of us. You'll be my first step in taking my revenge against my enemies!" Mara smirked before her cackles echoed off as she disappeared to the intended destination….Hiryu city.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You can use this room as freely as you want from now on, Hal." Megumi said, as she showed Hal an empty room in her own small apartment home. Otacon unloaded his suitcase and carrying bags into the spacious room and looked around a bit before speaking. It already have been a few hours since Otacon and Megumi agreed to move in together in her own abode, but it was strictly for the reason of keeping a low profile on Otacon as was willing to create more of his inventions and use as a base, though their platonic relationship had to be kept as that in order to keep suspicions on a low.

"This is just perfect enough, Megumi. I can use this." Otacon said, nodding his head at her. "As I said before, I will do what I can to help you out in anyway I can in terms of financial duties, so money's not going to be a problem."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, just make yourself at home." Megumi said, waving her arm. "I know your work is important right now, so I won't get in your way too much."

"Aw, come on, Megumi…you know for sure my work isn't the only reason why I wanted to live here." Otacon said.

"Huh? What do you mean, Hal?" Megumi asked having the feeling she already knows the answer as he stepped closer to her.

"Megumi, I know how much you needed my company, so I thought I'd make you and your brother happy if I stuck around here to watch your back, you know." Otacon said as he approached her.

"Hal…you wouldn't think I'd sense that, would you?" Megumi replied with a light blush on her cheeks. "And that makes me really glad to see you stick around here for what it seems to be a long while."

"Let's make the most of it while we can, okay?" Otacon asked.

"Okay! I'm with you every step of the way, Hal." Megumi smiled at him. There was a moment of silence as the two of them gazed into each others eyes, until Otacon's Codec suddenly rang and broke his train of thought.

"Ah, now who could that be?" Otacon said, causing Megumi to stare at him quizzically. "Umm, I got to answer this, Megumi. It seems everyone at Philanthropy wants to find out what Snake and I are up to now."

"Philanthropy?" Megumi asked.

"It's an anti Metal Gear group that was formed by Snake and I after FOXHOUND disbanded." Otacon explained. "It's still in the stages of developments as we have yet to find a permanent sponsor to make us official."

"Ah, I see." She said. "Well, I won't get in the way of your call; I'll go get some drinks ready before I head over to the Motor Club. See you in the kitchen when we're done."

Megumi bowed to Otacon before she left the room, leaving him by himself to reply to the Codec contacting him. He had a feeling who on the other end was calling him at a time like this.

"Otacon! It's about time you answered! And you had everyone here worried, you know!" the speaker's face appeared and she was an attractive, Chinese woman in her early twenties, with folded brown hair into the back of her head. She was wearing a light, brown, cream uniform.

"Oh, hi, Mei-Ling." Otacon replied to his old time friend, who also happened to be part of Philanthropy. "Sorry that now was the time to let you know Snake and I are still alive."

"'Sorry' alone won't cut it, buddy." Mei-Ling glared at him. "You should have contacted us as soon as things got wrong…"

"Well, with everything happening so fast around us, we were only intent on getting ourselves and as much survivors out of there before the tanker got to the ocean floor." Otacon said.

"And what about Snake? Is he doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's just fine, but not here with me at the moment." Otacon said. "He's staying with some good friends of ours who promises to take care of us at this time."

"Are they the same ones you told us about from the last time you were abroad?" Mei Ling asked. She and almost a majority of the organization knew about Snake getting helped from Belldandy and her sisters, but weren't given the exact details that they are actually goddesses some time after they returned to the States following the Nekomi Tech mission.

"Yeah, we're back in Japan with them, Mei-Ling." Otacon said, causing her to sigh a bit with relief.

"Well, that's a relief, I guess. If you're with people that trust you and Snake that well, we shouldn't be worried about having the two of you being exposed to the enemy any time soon." Mei Ling said.

"We can't relax just yet, Mei. Snake's planning to do something about this before the people we helped get involved by those who put us in this situation in the first place." Otacon spoke.

"You're right, but I say it's too early to be making any sudden movements, so I think its best you sit around and wait for a call from us to determine your next move. Roy would have wanted you guys to do that if this was still FOXHOUND." Mei Ling said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Otacon said. "Well, we can use this as an extended vacation until someone from Philanthropy comes up with a plan."

"Don't worry, Hal. Even though with how things look grim at the moment, that doesn't mean we still can't have validation for a sponsor. Just this a few days ago, Campbell recommended a Commander Hayato Daimon of the organization known as VESPER, and he happens to be an old, close friend of his during the old FOXHOUND days." Mei Ling said. "He even said this man had more military power in the 1980's than FOXHOUND itself when Big Boss was in command of it and still has. Now, he is always willing to come forward to help his friend in anyway."

"That sounds like a good plan, I've heard reports about VESPER a lot in the past in intelligence and defence reports which were related to the alien incidents in that time." Otacon said, causing Mei Ling to shake her head.

"Only you would know about the paranormal and other nameless, weird stuff, so it's no surprise to you that you've heard about it."

"I was only a kid at the time, so I won't remember much in details…" Otacon confessed. "So, what help do you think they can provide us with?"

"That's what I'm going to find out myself. I have an important meeting with him in an only mere two hours, so I'd better be heading over to their headquarters via helicopter." Mei Ling said.

"So you're acting as a spokesperson for Philanthropy for this meeting, huh? Well, all I can do is just wish you the best of luck. I'll be making sure to tell Snake of what's going on back at headquarters then."

"Alright, Otacon. It's good to hear the both of you are okay, but just stay tight and wait for a call, sooner or later. I just hope things go okay with VESPER and Philanthropy considering how things are crazy at the moment…" Mei Ling said. "Well, good luck to the both of you."

With that, Mei-Ling disconnected from her line and Otacon can see where she was coming from with how Philanthropy wanted a hand in sponsorship.

"We may need all the help we can get…" Otacon said to himself. "But I shouldn't worry about it too much, it will work out somehow. Got to use this time to relax and focus on keeping an eye on Megumi."

As Otacon left his new room to join Megumi, a small mouse was keeping a stern watch on the newcomer's movements from a corner. It was assigned by Belldandy to protect and watch over her, since it was the Earth spirit itself that was to stay at Megumi's house.

"A male mortal dares to get close to Megumi-sama!" The spirit spoke to itself. "I will surely have to keep an eye on him as of now…if he makes her sad in anyway, it will be my excuse to defend my master!"

So, then from that day onward, the spirit under the guise of a mouse will have to do what it can to protect Megumi from Otacon as well.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At a secluded location, unknown to any other living human being at the moment, Metal Gear RAY stood motionless on a metallic platform, while a tall, male figure, with a white mullet and beard stood with a smile on his face in front of it, admiring its design. He was wearing a prototype Sneaking Suit, something closely similar to that what Solid Snake wore in Shadow Moses.

"So, RAY…we finally are acquainted." The man spoke, as he started to walk around to survey it. "Ocelot…everything's going like clockwork as we planned, isn't it?"

"Yes, King. The media all over the planet is hot on Snake's trail as of now and that has given us enough space to launch the second phase of your plans." Ocelot spoke from a few feet behind him.

"The S3 project, while still in its developing stages, is already starting to show promise. But we first have to wait until the Patriots are complete with their new weapon and we will strike at the first given opportunity…Arsenal Gear." Solidus spoke.

"The Patriots made a mistake in taking everything you've worked for so long away from you, King." Ocelot spoke. "If Snake hadn't completed the Shadow Moses mission…"

"I would still be the President of the United States." Solidus said. "My time to exact revenge on those fools is drawing near, Ocelot, I can taste it. Snake was just the first step, now we move on to the others in preparation for control of the Patriots newest weapon."

"And how exactly do you plan to do this, sir?"

"My Dead Cell unit is now in a deep state of grief over the loss of their commander, Scott Dolph after the tanker sank." Solidus said. "They know Snake is the one who took their leader to his grave and will now hold a grudge against him for that."

"I heard a report that Olga woman survived…"

"We can still use her and her unit for the takeover. We'll make her a bargain she can't refuse, and that is to avenge her father and her fallen comrades by holding a grudge against him as well." Solidus spoke. "Is she in custody?"

"Yes, some of her unit along with her were discovered among those who made it back to shore and were taken for questioning." Ocelot said, and then stops for a moment. "King, may I propose an idea?"

"Of course, Ocelot."

"Since we have a long wait for the S3 project to begin, it will give us enough time to find even more armaments for the battle to strengthen our forces." Ocelot said, now holding up an optic disc. "The data obtained from the REX that could fend off the power of Goddesses will be a useful bargaining chip for the terrorist black market."

"Interesting…" Solidus said, sounding interested in Ocelot's idea.

"With Solid Snake out of the picture, we won't have to worry about interference from those who helped him back in Nekomi as well; they will be occupied in looking over him if he had survived the sunken tanker." Ocelot said.

"Ocelot, I had read all the pertained intel about the Goddess sisters who can pose a problem in our plans." Solidus spoke. "They all possess formidable powers and we couldn't use our existing technology to counter them, particularly that First Class, Belldandy."

"True, so there's no need to be rushing towards the Goddesses attention so soon. We just have to use the efficient data from the optic disc to increase our chances against the Patriots." Ocelot spoke.

"And what will you do about Mara if she shows up? She has not forgotten being double crossed by you, just so you can get your hands on that data."

"Oh, we'll be ready for Mara when she shows up again, I just get the feeling she herself will want to go up against the very enemy she loathes." Ocelot spoke. "Eventually, all will connect to one place, and we'll snare all of them in one spot for the kill."

Solidus let out a small laugh. "Yes, Ocelot…I like your plan thus far. Why hurry with the S3 project anyway, I'm certain 'Jack' is not even close to completing his training yet. We have all the time in the world…"

(Yes, all the time to prepare myself against you as well, Solidus. You may not know it, but yourself are part of my plan as well.) Ocelot thought to himself. (As does everyone else who has challenged the Patriots…be it man, Goddess or demons, they will get what's coming to them, one way or the other.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Morisato residence, time had passed and now Ryoko and Washu had learned of Snake's story about the tanker incident. They both believed his story now and were now convinced about the Patriots trying to upset Snake's Metal Gear hunting plans.

"Man, I've never realised this whole thing was so darn serious…" Washu said, leaning back to think. "Whoever these Patriots guys are, they aren't joking one bit when it comes to messing around with other people's affairs."

"I'm just as curious as the next person besides me, Washu." Urd spoke, looking at Snake, then her sisters. "That's why we're going to do what we can to help Snake get to the bottom of this before something serious happens."

"Well, if it's no trouble, we can put a little two cents and help in while we can, unless the famous Solid Snake has objections." Ryoko said, causing Snake to stare at her.

"Now, look here, Ryoko and Washu. I appreciate the offer, but can you even take care of yourselves in a battle? This isn't going to some walk in the park, you know?" Snake asked making sure the guests he just met knew about the dangers involved.

"You doubt us?" Ryoko said, now levitating in the air. "I can show you that I'm quite useful, you know."

As an example, Ryoko lifted herself upwards and suddenly her body phased through the ceiling of the living room and suddenly reappearing on the other side, right next to Snake that he didn't even sense her till her arm was wrapped around his neck.

"And that's just a sample of what I can do…not only I'm a space pirate, but a demon as well whose been around for7000 years." Ryoko boldly said, causing Snake to stare at her in surprise. "And you really don't want to see me angry either."

"7000? That's hard to believe since you're looking quite attractive for a demon your age." Snake spoke, causing Urd to glare at him, while Ryoko blushed.

"Oh, you really didn't mean that, didn't you?" Ryoko said, holding her hands on her face and throwing her head around. "But still, you're no match for my dear Tenchi, even if you got quite a manly body."

"Who's Tenchi?" Snake asked.

"Tenchi Masaki's is a rather…important man in my life." Ryoko said in a mellow tone. "He's the one who took me in when I was stranded here on Earth."

"Sounds like an interesting person, I got to meet him sometime." Snake said.

"Oh, you'll like the family very much, they are a weird bunch, but most of them are good to be around with." Ryoko said. (Save for one, annoying Jurian princess that is…)

"Ahem!" Urd coughed, trying to get notice. "Trying to hit on Snake, Ryoko? You may be older than most of the mortals here, but I'm over a few centuries much older than you, so don't even think of comparing yourself in my level."

"Oh, no! Urd, I'll never steal your man away from you, and besides, I wonder if Hild knows about you and him being together like this?" Ryoko slyly said causing Urd to widen her eyes in shock.

"Eep!" Urd gulped, as Snake saw the changed look on her face.

"Is something the matter, Urd?" Snake asked, as Urd looked at him with a nervous look.

"Ah, it's nothing, really, Snake! Just an old name I didn't expect to be brought up, that's all." Urd said, waving it off, as she stared at Ryoko with a dangerous death glare.

Skuld and Washu saw the tension between them and decided to cut it as Washu began to speak.

"Well, I'm totally different from my daughter in terms of age and genius. Not only I'm over twenty thousand years old, I am simply the most brilliant scientific genius in the galaxy! Just feel free to call me 'Little Washu' if you feel to, Snake." she said proudly, which hardly impressed Snake, who instantly took her for a nutcase.

"Uh, right…." Snake said with some doubt in his voice, but Skuld nudged his shoulder.

"Take my word for it, she may not look it, but she's actually as old as time itself and her inventions range to some very powerful weapons that will make the weapons like Metal Gear look puny."Skuld warned him. "Act as if it's believable, or else you'd find yourself as one of her next guinea pigs before you see it coming."

Snake sighed quietlyas he nodded with a large sweat drop behind his head. It was hard to believe that the long, spikyred haired woman sitting in front of him is probably the longest living and most brilliant genius that ever existed, yet he had to see it for himself to prove what Skuld just told him.

"Well, I can say that your presence here is enough to send quite an impact in the science world, Washu." Snake said at the last moment all of a sudden.

"My mind is always available to help one such as yourself and this Otacon, I'm sure with a genius likeme on your side and the help of the Masaki household, we can surely find what the Patriots are and deal with them to clear your name." Washu said proudly.

"It's not going to be that simple, even for you, Washu." Belldandy said. "Not even the Almighty can confirm what their actions will be in the near future. We're supposed to hear word from the heavens soon in case something comes up."

"Hey, Belldandy, until then, why don't we can have Snake and this buddy meets the rest of the family at the Masaki shrine one of these days? I'm sure everyone's eager to meet the Legend and pitch in to help as well." Ryoko suggested.

"As long as I get to come along too, it's been awhile since I hung around Sasami and Ryo-oh-ki." Skuld smiled, remembering an old friend.

"The same with me, I'm coming along so I can make sure you don't pull anything on Snake behind my back." Urd said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah…you two can come along if you want. The more, the merrier anyway." Ryoko said as she and her mother stood up. "Well, if that's all that's to be done, it's time for me to take my leave…"

"Not so fast, Ryoko. You're not going back home without giving me back what you stole from me." Washu said, placing an arm on the green, long haired woman.

"Nuh-uh! I'm doing everyone on the planet a favour, so back off if you know what's good for you!" Ryoko protested. Washu simply sighed and clicked on a switch on her belt, causing a light doorway to open near inside a large mirror in front of everyone.

"You asked for it, Ryoko!" Washu said, simply throwing her into the mirror, as Ryoko screamed as she disappeared into the portal. Snake was watching this take place in front of him and he was finding it quite hard to believe this was even possible.

"It was a whole lot of fun, everyone, but now; I will have to deal with Ryoko myself in taking what was important to me." Washu said, now bowing to everyone and Snake himself. "Solid Snake, sorry if we misjudged you. You're not really a bad person after all if Belldandy and Urd trusts you that much. Ryoko feels the same way too."

"Understood, Washu, but you guys don't sound too bad yourselves." Snake smiled at the scientist. "I'm sure you'll be of great help, my partner now has to deal with two super smart geniuses from now on."

"Well, Belldandy thanks for tea and time. We'll be back soon to see how things are going with your friends." Washu waved at the group before she disappeared into the light and in a flash, she was gone. Snake sighed heavily as he started to talk with the Goddess sisters.

"So, you know those two for awhile, huh?" Snake asked Belldandy.

"Yes, we share quite a history." Belldandy said with a smile. "And you can cay Ryoko's an old-time friend of Urd."

"She and I go waaaay back." Urd simply stated.

"And who is this Hild, Ryoko mentioned before?" Snake asked, causing Urd to fiddle about with her fingers.

"Um…geez…I really can't…" Urd was at a loss for words until she saw the empty sake bottle on the ground and thought up of a convenient excuse. "Oh, no! We're out of sake already? I'll go to the store to get some more! I'll be back!"

"Wait, Urd!" Snake called out to her, before she suddenly snatched a nearby broom, hoping unto it and suddenly flying out the living room with it. Snake ran out to catch her, but she was already long gone. Snake looked back at Belldandy and Skuld.

"Okay, you two…something about that Hild name just doesn't sit well with Urd and I want to know what does it mean to her." Snake asked sternly. Skuld looked down for a moment before she spoke.

"I'm certain why she hasn't told you about it up to now, Snake." Skuld said. "You see, Snake…Hild is the ultimate demon of Hell. She practically rules that place with her immense powers, that even at minimum levels, she is even more powerful than me, my two big sisters and Peorth combined."

"I think I get a clear understanding why Urd would react like that…" Snake asked, sensing the fear from Skuld's voice at the details of Hild.

"No, it goes much deeper…you see, Snake…Hild is Urd's mother." Belldandy said, causing Snake to stare at them in silence.

(I wonder how this will affect me being with Urd if the queen of Hell does know about it…?) Snake swallowed as he thought about this. This was going to be another, frightening possibility he would have to ponder about as well. If the Patriots don't get to him first, then Urd's own mother would.

"As soon as Urd gets back here, I'm having a talk with her about this." Snake said. "She's going to have to level with me from on about these kinds of things in the future…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back in the heavens, Peorth had just helped finished maintaining the Yggdrasil computer systems, though in the current state of things, the system wasn't running fully one hundred percent and was depending on the back up emergency system for now. She was on a break now, watching over the other goddesses operate on the system.

"This is bad…we didn't expect the damage from the Patriots to be this extensive." Chrono, one of the assistant goddesses said to her comrade as they typed away on the supercomputer's keyboards. Chrono had brown short hair with two tied in ponytails. She seemed to be the youngest of the three, but actually is much older than she looks.

"You're right, it will take some more time until the bugs that infested the computer to be recovered and rounded up before the system goes online again." Hercompanion, Ere,spoke. Ere had long dark hair with two locks hanging atbythesides of her sheeks and was the central operator. "As of now, all contracts are on a void notice."

"Even Urd's to that mortal?" Ex, the third operator asked. Ex had a mushroom type hairstyle with two curls at the ends with a long strand that stretched downwards to her back, yet its colour wasof pure silver.

"It seems so, for now." Ere said.

"Does she know about it?" Chrono asked.

"It's best she doesn't…she can be pulled back here without ever going back if she breaks another rule for the probation she's on already." Peorth said from behind.

"You're right…"Ere said. She then looked to the side, concerned over something and Peorth noticed.

"What is the matter?" Peorth asked.

"Lady Rind is still in training…I worry about her."Ere said. "But that is expected, she always get to do the 'dirty missions'."

"Is that what she is training for?" Peorth asked, and just to answer her question, a tall female figure stepped in, wearing apure whitecoloured body suit, with purple outlines that ran down the dress and had a cloak like appearance around her arms that closely resembled wings for gliding. She had crystal blue, shoulder-length hair, with the right side of it being left as it is in a long strand that ended around her chest area. She was holding unto two, staff like battle axes.

It was the fifth Goddess, Rind, whose license was 'Special Duty, Unlimited', also known mostly as a Valkyrie and earned the reputation of a goddess of extreme violence.

"Rind? You look as if you had been through the ringer." Peorth said, but Rind simply waved it off.

"The training called for it, I need to get in shape for what's to come." Rind replied.

"Yes, we are now entering a difficult time now, because of the Patriots…" Peorth said. "How can we stop a group of mere mortals who have the world in the palm of their hands?"

"That's what I'm going to find out as well, Almighty's orders." Rind replied.

"A new mission?"

"Yes, but it's strange. It's a mere recon mission, something that Kami-sama wouldn't assign me to, unless it was highly dangerous." Rind spoke. "I am to head to Earth and keep and eye on Mara's actions, she surely up to something this time if she isn't going after Belldandy."

"She's got another potential target? But who is it this time?"

Rind stood silent for a bit, before leaning over and speaking something into her ear, causing her to widen her eyes.

"It…it can't be…! You're saying Mara is going after 'her'?" Peorth asked in shock.

"There's no one else like her, Mara will see a perfect candidate to use from the target I was assigned to guard from her." Rind spoke seriously.

"Then, I won't take up more of your time, then. You'd best be going." Peorth said.

"Be careful down there, Rind."

"Of course, I will. You just take care of everything up here, while I head on over to this city called Hiryu and stop Mara before she interferes." Rind said, as she took haste and quickly left the heavens stepping onto the portal which will take her to the Earth stratosphere. Peorth stood there, wondering to herself in silence.

"I wonder…how far this will go if even Mahoro is involved?" Peorth asked herself. She knew the possibilities almost too well…

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ShardclawK: On a personal author's note, I was inspired of including Rind as a major player in this story after seeing the final set of the new Oh My Goddess TV episodes, so be expecting to see a lot more of her in this story from now on. I also included the three operatives from the Oh My Goddess movie as well. The only complaint about that is that I also wanted to see Peorth in action as well, but the only appearance she put up was a cameo during the credits in the final episode. Oh, well, guess we can't win them all…

Anyway, hoped I did the Tenchi characters well so far, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the rest of the girls and the guys, I got plans for them as well. But for now, let's focus on what Rind is up to as the summary of next chapter will perk up your curiosity even more. As always, I'm leaving it to DarkFusion for any suggestions or inserts to include in this story, they'll be gladly appreciated. Everyone else can pitch in as well if you have any unique ideas.

Next chapter: Rind gets going on her mission in a city named Hiryu and that's where Mahoro and a few of her friends will finally show up! How deep they will get involved in this intertwined, crazy story? There will also be some action in between as well, so be prepared to find out in the next update. See you all then.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	5. Unfurled Plans

Disclaimer: If you had read in the previous chapters, I do not own any of the characters and material who appeared so far in this story, they all belong to their respective companies and owners, while Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden belongs to Bunjuro Nakayama and Ditama, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Gainax Studios, Shaft, TBS, Pioneer LDC, Wani Books and the Mahoromatic Production Committee. But the story alone is mine and I do already have the girls from that anime all to myself, heh-heh…

ShardclawK: Okay, folks, I thought I'd keep the suspense to a minimum and post this chapter of this monster as soon as I got the chance to get your reactions of mixing Mahoromatic in this story. I won't start to drag with too much detail in this note, so I'll saving them for the end of the chapter. Just an important note before I begin, the last segment of this chapter takes place just sometime in the middle of the first episode of the 'Something More Beautiful' season before and around when Minawa appeared, so the fans of that show would recognise some scenes, and if not some differences and extra goodies. If not, I'll be more than happy to provide a link to the series if you haven't seen it yet.

Like in the previous chapters, there's even more surprise twists and plots ahead, so enjoy this chapter filled with enough battle Goddess, robots and combat androids to make your head spin in goodness! (You'll understand what I talking about once I get there, folks. Just level with me on this one.)

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Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 5: Clash of the Maiden Warriors, Part 1

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At the Masaki residence, across the other side of Japan, a young boy with a tanned complexion and short hair dressed in casual clothing was practicing his sword skills outside his home using a wooden kendo sword, as this was his daily task of keeping his skills sharp. Tenchi Masaki was thankful for the times of relaxation since Ryoko wasn't around to cause mischief and as a bonus, Washu wouldn't be trying to kidnap him against his will to use him as a guinea pig as always.

(At least I can get things done around here without those two having to start up some kind of trouble.) Tenchi thought to himself. (At least they went off some where else instead staying around here to interrupt my training…)

"Again, you're out of focus, Tenchi!" a stern male voice spoke as Tenchi got a hard tap on his head from a stick behind him. The Japanese teen rubbed the spot where he got hit and turned around to face a bearded male in his fifties, dressed in traditional Shinto shrine clothing and was wearing glasses. "I can see that one moment when you always drop your guard mentally that you're open!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, grandpa!" Tenchi cowered, having to deal with his grandfather's strict lesson.

"How many times have we done this, Tenchi? You need to be aware of what's around you in a battle and not let your mind wander." Katsuhito Masaki said, before he rubbed Tenchi's head. "But it's not that I blame you for letting this happen on rare occasions, you've improved a lot, Tenchi."

"I know, grandpa. It's all thanks to the experience for all these years." Tenchi said with a smile as he looked at Katsuhito. "Well, I see that we've been out here long enough, let's see if lunch is ready by now."

Tenchi nodded as he and his grandfather entered he kitchen where they were greeted with smiles from several other women in the same room. One of them a very attractive woman with long purple hair, that two single strands of it hung out from all the way and under her vibrant mushroom hair style to the ground. She was wearing a gold like head charm just above her temple as two earring like jewels hung out at each ends of it. She was dressed in a mix of a blue traditional Japanese kimono and a dress over it today.

"Back from training already, sir Tenchi?" the civilized female asked, as she saw Tenchi enter.

"I really can't miss your sister's cooking if I keep training, Ayeka." Tenchi replied to her as another girl, who had the shorted height of everyone else in the room giggled as a shade of red covered over her freckled nose. She had bright red, but innocent eyes, long blue hair that had two strands of it tied over her head in red, round hairpins. She also had a gold upside down triangle placed on the middle of her forehead. She was wearing the same kind of garment Ayeka had, only it a mix of was pink and green. Next to her, was a cute animal which looked like a brown rabbit with large ears, eating from a basket of carrots close by.

"Isn't that true, Sasami?" Katsuhito asked the young girl, who happened to be Ayeka's younger sister. Sasami only blushed as she got into finishing preparations for lunch.

"Well, everyone around here thinks my cooking is that special, I guess it's not really a surprise to know how eager you are for lunch everyday, isn't that right, Ryo-oh-ki?" Sasami asked, as her pet replied with a cherry, 'Meeeeooowww!'

It was just as when Sasami was about done cooking and was now starting serving the meal; Ryoko came back looking rather slumped with a grinning Washu watching her daughter in defeat.

"Hey, you guys made it back, eventually." Tenchi said, having already known Ryoko's wild adventure from before, as he remembered it clearly when he was used as a distraction to divert from bothering Washu's in her insane invention creations. "How did you manage to get up to Ryoko so fast this time, Washu?"

"I knew she wouldn't go anywhere else with my piece of equipment, than to the Morisato temple. And my assumptions were right, if I hadn't gotten there, I bet she and Skuld may have plotted against me." Washu spoke, taking a seat at the table.

"Serves her right for stirring up trouble in the first place." Ayeka simply stated, as Ryoko glared at her direction, then folded her arms.

"What was that, you boring, prissy princess who does nothing but sit around and watch soaps all day?" Ryoko said, as Ayeka glared at Ryoko.

"Now, now, you two…its time to enjoy some lunch, so cool it already." Tenchi waved his arms to try and prevent another fight between the two from starting. It was the last thing he needed right now, since whenever those two got in on, most of the property around them won't remain when the battle's over. Especially if the fight's over Tenchi himself and he would at times wound up getting hurt.

"Hey, you said you were both at Belldandy's place, right?" Sasami asked.

"That's right, and you guys wouldn't believe what we discovered while we were there." Ryoko said.

"What is it that you discovered, Ryoko?" another female voice said as a new female with blue eyes and long, dark green hair, most of it was resting on the right side of her head stepped in. She wore a dark yellow headband around her temple and a blue top blouse with a red tie, which had a gun holster strapped to the side. She has a long slender figure which her thighs were hugged by the uniform's grey jeans.

"Uh, Kiyone…you wouldn't believe it if I told you." Ryoko said to the Galaxy Police detective.

"Try me; we'd seen other crazy stuff in the past that would still puzzle us to this day." Kiyone simply replied as she sat down. Right behind her, another woman appeared, this one had tanned skin and long, curly and bouncy blonde hair. She had clear blue eyes and a rather ditzy appearance, as if she wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her. She was dressed in the same attire her partner Kiyone had on.

"Is it lunchtime already?" she asked, as Kiyone suddenly got a bit irritated at hearing her partner speak.

"What other reason we would leave the precinct in space just to be here today, huh, Mihoshi?" Kiyone said, as having to be with Mihoshi was probably the most unlucky thing that can happen to her. Kiyone was one of the GP's highest ranked police officers once upon a time ago, even having graduated second in class. However, since she got paired up with Mihoshi Kuramitsu, who constantly drives Kiyone nuts with her antics of falling asleep on the job and screwing everything up on a job. But still, those two have gotten used to one another for so long; they practically are like sisters who can't do without one another.

"Ah, don't hit me again, Kiyone! I said before I was sorry when I accidentally mistook that bus driver for a perp!" Mihoshi cowered at Kiyone's threat.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't acted like you're used to and scared the hell out of the poor dude by pointing your gun at him without having him give an explanation, I wouldn't be so mad at you!" Kiyone said, her eyebrow twitching.

"You're always angry with me…" Mihoshi said as she lowered her head.

"As we were saying before…" Washu cleared her throat before speaking. "Just wanted everyone to know that Belldandy and her sisters got a…'special guest' of sorts staying over with them right now."

"You make it sound as if this guest that is staying over with them is important, Washu." Ayeka said.

"Oh, he is. How many of you have heard about the famous Solid Snake?" Washu said causing everyone in the kitchen to react alarmed to her saying this.

"Wait, I heard that name all over the news this morning. Didn't they say he was involved in sinking that tanker over at the States and now he's a wanted terrorist?" Tenchi asked.

"The very same one." Ryoko replied. "He's the one staying over at Urd's place for the moment in hiding from some enemies who he thinks framed him."

"This is quite the development…" Ayeka said as she couldn't believe what she just heard. "But what surprises me the most is how Belldandy and her sisters would want to help Snake in hiding, since they have nothing to gain from this?"

"Geez, for a Jurai princess, you're not smart, aren't you?" Ryoko said, causing Ayeka to flare up once more.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll make you take back those words, you hear?" Ayeka growled at Ryoko.

"Yeah, you and what army?" Ryoko asked. "Those two wooden so called guardians of yours would only be good practice if they try to stop me."

Ayeka stared at Ryoko long enough that an electric charge can be seen between the two of them.

"Back to the subject at hand and taken our history with Belldandy and Keiichi, I'm sure we owe you all an explanation on why Snake is staying with them, much less is hiding right now." Washu said, ignoring her daughter getting set to fight Ayeka.

"You certainly do, Washu." Katsuhito said sternly. "It sounds like a very serious matter if the world most wanted criminal is in hiding with the Goddess sisters."

"There's much more to this than meets the eye, Katsuhito. I'll explain everything about it." Washu said, as she got started on telling everyone at the Masaki residence about her and Ryoko's meeting with Solid Snake and how he was involved with Belldandy and her sisters even before the tanker incident. With that aside, Tenchi and the others knew Snake and his partner, Otacon were good friends with Keiichi and company.

Then she told him about what Snake told them during the tanker mission. Everyone who heard this the first time was pretty much intrigued knowing Snake was actually one of the good guys who got put into the hot spot because of the Patriots. At the end, they were convinced of their story.

"Well, I guess this means Snake is innocent, huh?" Tenchi asked.

"That's how it is. So that's why Snake and his partner had decided to sit in the sidelines until they can think up of a plan to deal with this." Washu said. "Though he knows its risky being in the open, he says how he is willing to even let us help them."

"Convenient enough for all of us to get acquainted with the famous Solid Snake, doesn't it?" Kiyone asked.

"It does, but we may have to act with caution on this. If these Patriots can make up a story to frame Solid Snake and turn the world against him, it won't be long till people like Belldandy and her sisters, as well as this household get targeted by them if they are that powerful." Kasuhito spoke.

"Sounding a bit afraid of them, old man?" Ryoko said, as she smacked her fists together. "They don't sound too dangerous…and if they ever try to hurt Tenchi, I'll make sure to blast them where it hurts the most, so it will teach them a lesson not to mess with me!"

"Ryoko, you may not be familiar with the governmental powers that rule this planet, but I've heard similar rumours throughout history that could clearly point towards them." Kasuhito spoke serious to the space pirate. "It would be best to let Washu and Belldandy arrange a meeting for all of us to meet with the famous Solid Snake and his partner."

"Is there anything we can do by the meantime to get data on these Patriots? I can go into my databanks for related information that revolves around them…" Washu said.

"That sounds like an idea, but you'd best be careful that you don't get discovered." Kasuhito warned her.

"Relax; I'm much more cautious than to make a slip up. I can even I hack the Pentagon's databases and not get discovered until they at least update their primitive security systems." Washu said as she left the room. Kasuhito simply shook his head as Tenchi spoke now.

"When my father gets back from work, I'll ask him if he knows anything about any incidents in the past that could point to them as well…" Tenchi said getting up.

"Yes, its best you let him know about Washu and Ryoko's discovery when he gets back."

"I'll go around looking for information…Minagi or Yume can tell me what they know about the Patriots if they have data." Ryoko said as she vanished through the wall out of the room.

"She's looking to start up some kind of trouble again, I'm sure of it." Ayeka said in a gruff tone, pretty much annoyed by Ryoko getting set to start some kind of trouble again. "But as the situation does sound serious, I guess I can Azaka and Kamidake for information that can help."

"Even now, the Galaxy Police have started to question the incident surrounding that man…there's a big reward for information to determine if he is still alive or not and where to find him." Kiyone said seriously. "Mihoshi, I got to trust you from today to keep what we learned today a secret from the officials back at headquarters when we get back later, got it?"

"Okay, Kiyone, I promise." Mihoshi put up an arm before the expression on her face changed from being attentive, to a rather puzzled one as she asked her partner: "Um, what was it we're supposed to keep a secret about, Kiyone?"

"I don't believe this girl!" Kiyone exclaimed, not wanting to explain the whole story to Mihoshi as she had already forgotten it.

"Waahhh! It was such a long story, Kiyone, it was really hard to keep track!" Mihoshi bawled out as she started to get chased by an angry Kiyone out of the kitchen, leaving only Tenchi, Sasami, and Kasuhito in the room.

"It seems that a dangerous time is approaching, Tenchi. We might as well start preparing it ourselves…" Kasuhito said. "The omen that surrounds this conspiracy of Solid Snake is something none of us had encountered before."

"Is it that serious, grandpa?" Tenchi asked.

"By the looks of things, this is just the beginning of things to come." Kasuhito replied. "In any case, we'll see what we ourselves can do to help Belldandy's friends in this when we meet them soon."

"From the way Ryoko and Washu talked about Snake, he doesn't sound like a bad person. I can't wait to meet him one of these days." Sasami said.

"Same here." Tenchi said, as he taught to himself a bit. (I've never seen grandpa looked this serious in a while…I'm getting a weird feeling too that whoever these Patriots are, we'll be hearing a lot more about them sooner or later…)

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Meanwhile back at Nekomi city, Urd had just completed shopping from its supermarket, carrying grocery bags of beer and sake. She brought the beer in case Snake would need it as he was staying with her and her sisters for what it could be an indefinite period. She had been shopping for two hours, thinking to herself if avoiding him when he asked about Hild was the right thing.

"How convenient for me that all the alcohol back home was done by the time Snake asked about…her." Urd said to herself, as she found her broom and hopped on. "But still…why did Ryoko have to bring that up when Snake was around to be curious about it? Jeez…"

By using her goddess powers, Urd was able to make the broom airborne and soon, she was flying over the city back to the temple. During the trip back home, she took the time to think about what she has to say to Snake.

(I'm sure Belldandy has told him about whom exactly Hild is by now…and how we are related. I bet it will be quite a shock to him when he finds out.) Urd thought, shaking her head. (I would be just fooling myself if I try to keep Snake away from some of my darkest secrets while he's staying…but then again, Snake have had his share of his from the amount of time I've been with him do far…so, I guess it probably wouldn't be any different.)

She soon found herself back at the temple, where she met Keiichi and Skuld tinkering with his motorcycle. Banpei was near its creator, giving out tools to her as it was commanded, while Keiichi was having a bento lunch which was cooked by Belldandy.

"You're back, finally." Skuld lamented, as she waved a wrench at her older sister. "You left in a hurry that you got Snake worried as heck about you."

"Yeah, Belldandy told me that both Ryoko and Washu were here a while ago when I got back from the Motor Club." Keiichi said.

"So I got some errands to run, you guys shouldn't make a fuss about it." Urd replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides…I knew for sure if Snake's going to be here for a long time from now on, he will eventually know more about us and who else we've tangoed in the past, sooner or later."

"You just weren't expecting Ryoko to say it first though, huh?" Skuld said, causing Urd to hang her head.

"Yeah, you got me right there." Urd replied. "Anyway, where is Snake anyway?"

"He's probably watching the television, but with all that's going on about him all over right now, I guess he isn't too comfortable watching himself as a bad guy on TV." Skuld said. "So, he's probably in his room or something."

"I'm going to be straight up and talk to him about this right now. Wish me luck." Urd said as she walked on into the temple and into the kitchen where she left the most of the beer and sake in the fridge, before making up her mind to take two cans of beer for herself and Snake. Heading straight for the room he was staying in, she gently knocked on the door to let him know she was entering.

"Hey, Snake…I'm back. Can I come in?" Urd asked. "I needed to talk to you about…"

Before she can finish, the door opened and Snake stood in the doorway, his arms folded. He seemed ready for an explanation Urd had for him.

"You don't need to trouble yourself into telling me the queen of Hell itself is your mother, Urd. I already got the details from you sisters soon as you left." He said. "But I'd rather hear it from you…does this Hild bother you that much, even though you're related?"

Urd simply sighed as she opened up her can of beer and stepped into his room. From what she can see, Snake was busy sorting his inventory of items, while his Sneaking Suit was still being dried out from the all water it absorbed.

"I really don't consider her and me to be related…not anymore these days." Urd said, sipping her beer. "I'm not going to ever be like her, Snake. She's the queen of Hell and she probably wants me to follow her footsteps somehow."

"In other words, you want to be the opposite of her heritage, huh?" Snake asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Snake?" Urd stated, placing the empty beer can in a trash bin nearby. "Even though I'm a half demon, I'm still part goddess as well…I've chosen long ago to do good for people, not the opposite."

"But Hild is still your mother, whether you don't want to accept the reality of it or not." Snake said to her, before sighing a bit as he turned his back. "And in a way…that's why I envy you so much whenever I hear more about your past."

"What do you mean by that, Snake?" Urd asked, not sure of his meaning.

"Urd…I never knew my mother since I was born and to make my family matters worst, my father was just another megalomaniac that I had to kill with my own two hands before he could have started another nuclear holocaust." Snake said seriously facing her. "You're lucky that you still have parents around that you can call your own. Me, all I can know about my family was that I was part on an experiment of cloning from Big Boss's genes and that I had five other dead brothers. That was as far as it goes in my family tree."

Urd's heart melted when she now realised that Snake had a point. For a man whose birth and fate was constructed by other people's wishes and not his, he knows how important family are to one another, especially from the time he spent with Belldandy and her sisters. Sensing the heartache from Snake as he said this, she got up and took his hand.

"Oh, David…I'm sorry." Urd said as her gaze lowered to the floor. "I've never realised how…"

Before she continued, Snake had placed a finger on her lips as he shook his head. "You didn't need to apologize, Urd. I'm just helping you see something important here and that's you got a family that's real enough to trust and depend on. Look, Urd…I know you don't like your demon half, and I may know your reasons. But that doesn't mean you can go on having a grudge with your mother for the rest of your life because you don't see eye to eye on things."

"But…"

"No more 'buts', Urd. Since I'm staying here for the time being, the most you should do is not just let me know about the other people you've been trying to avoid in your life, but at least get things patched up between your mother and yourself." Snake told her. "If that's too tough for you to do, let me in to give you a hand in it."

"You got to be kidding, Snake. You certainly want to help me bury the hatchet with my mother, the queen of Hell?" Urd asked with a nervous grin. "You do know that is not really an option you can make, you know that?"

"Yeah, but it's worth the shot if I have to see you feeling better about your mother afterwards." Snake said with a smile. "Come on, Urd…you know I'm right about how important family, no matter who it is or where they originate from, so why feel low about it?"

"I may not be able to share your level of enthusiasm, but its not going to be easy facing her and telling her we what will happen in the future, especially with the two of us together."

"I'm sure she will understand, Urd." Snake said.

"I'm hoping so. The last thing I need is her getting between the two of us, Snake. That's surely the last thing I need right now…" Urd spoke as she shook her head.

"Nothing and no one's going to separate us, Urd. I can promise you that." Snake said as he held her closer to his body. "You got my word."

"Oh, Snake…thank you." Urd said as she tightened their embrace and had her head buried into his chest area, where she felt most assured and comfortable there. "I promise whatever secret you will need to know in the future, I will have no problem telling you what I know. But I can assure you most of it isn't as painful as being around my mother."

"That's good to know." Snake said as he simply kissed above the upside down triangle mark on Urd's forehead. Urd felt sure Snake would help her now come to terms with her mother since he was willing to do so for the sake of her happiness. "Now, with that aside…are there any other persons from the past that bothers you up to now?"

"Oh, really, David. You don't have to worry about that; lets just focus on what we're going to do about this situation regarding the Patriots." Urd said.

"Yeah, you're right. We can't dwell about the past for sure." Snake replied with a nod, with Urd breathed a simple sigh of relief to herself.

(It's a good thing he doesn't know about Troubadour as yet…but I'm sure my annoying little sister will tell him about him as well as any of my other secrets she may already know eventually.) She thought to herself. (This should give me an opportunity to warn her about blabbing out things that shouldn't be said with a warning or two.)

"Come on, David…let's go have lunch together with everyone else, okay?" Urd offered as she wrapped an arm around Snake's waist.

"I'm with you on that one." Snake said as the two left the room to join Keiichi and the others for lunch.

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Meanwhile, on another part of the country, in a city that was named Hiryu…

Rind was observing the actions of the citizens of the largely populated town. She was acting on accord on a new mission the Almighty had assigned her. At first, the objective was unclear as simple and clear it stated, only her experience in battle can match her for such a mission. The objective of her mission was to:

_Meet and secure a fourteen year old Japanese girl named Mahoro Ando. _

The fact that the Almighty knew all about Mahoro being a combat android was not a surprise to her, but why would he order Rind to make contact with her? And more importantly, why would she need to be protected?

"He wouldn't give much in detail, so I'm assuming this is something I will have to piece together for myself to find out how this ties into the Yggdrasil's current operations as of late. This Mahoro may be a link of some sorts, no wonder she sounds extremely important." She said to herself. "Well…only one way to find out if I go around and scout for clues…eventually I'll run into something."

With that, Rind continued making her way across one rooftop across to another, searching for this Mahoro Ando. Meanwhile, down below, amongst the suburb neighborhoods, a young girl in her teens was running by. She had on a green, tight jumpsuit around her torso, the number '370' tagged on the left of her chest area, while her legs were tightly snuggled in grey color as part of the suit. She had a short hairstyle of a light strawberry blonde that had a red corset over it.

"I must find her…quickly before they find me…" the girl said to herself as she ran further into the city.

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At the same time in the city somewhere else, a young girl with long dark blue hair, which most of it was tied into a large yellow ribbon behind her neck area and clad in a long blue maid's uniform dress complete with a large white apron and a maid's cap on, brown dress shoes and short, frilly white socks. She had a red and yellow broach that had a red dropping ribbon below it. Two short bangs of her hair hung down at both sides of her face, while there were two pointy ones which stuck outside of her head. They seemed to move as if they have a life on their own every time she reacts to something.

She was in the process of shopping, a bright innocent smile on her face as she had brought some vegetables from the provisions stall. Searching around a bit, she gave herself a small nod.

"I might as well get myself a snack while I wait on Suguru…" she said to herself as she bowed to the store's owner. "Thank you again for the discount on the radish, sir. I know this would come in handy in making dinner tonight."

"Hey, anytime, Mahoro." The owner replied to her with a big grin as Mahoro started to walk. It seemed she was very popular among the townsfolk of Hiryu. The android maid started to walk down further into the shopping district, just then her old fighting instincts kicked in as she stopped and felt an unusual presence watching her from the shadows.

(This feeling…could it be Ryuga?) Mahoro stopped to think for a moment. (No, this couldn't be him, he and I had put our differences aside some time ago and now we're allies. This feeling is much more different…yet even more powerful than anything I've ever sensed before.)

As Mahoro wanted to find out more, she sprinted out from the public's view and leaped upwards to one of the building's roofs. Searching around, she then heard clapping from behind her back.

"Well, well…you actually sensed me from quite a distance. Much of what I expected from VESPER's number one combat android." A female voice spoke as Mahoro stepped back in a fighting posture at the sight of Mara in front of her, levitating and clad in her usual menacing outfit and the sly grin on her face.

"You…are you from SAINT?" Mahoro asked, nearly puzzled at the sight of Mara.

"No, kid…let's just say I have heard of you from reliable sources where I come from." Mara said. "Let's cut to the chase…I'm Mara, and I've been observing you for a long while, Mahoro Ando.)

"Then you must be from the Management!" Mahoro shouted. "If you have come here to harm Suguru, I'll…"

"Whoa, whoa, ease up, kid. I'm not really you're enemy, just someone with special…interest of you." Mara said, placing her hand on her cheek as she thought to herself.

(The Management? This is a new one. It seems Mahoro does have more enemies than she had with the SAINT alien androids.) Mara thought to herself. (This could get interesting I go delve a little deeper…)

"What is your business with me then?" Mahoro asked, still on the guard and very suspicious of Mara. "You're not from SAINT, VESPER or the Management, what are you then?"

"If you want to put it that way, you can say I'm a powerful person of great influence." Mara said. "Mahoro…I know about your history and the countdown on your lifespan. I'm here to see to it that you can live beyond that."

"That's not possible. That was how I was designed to live by and not even someone who claims to have power unimaginable can change that." Mahoro said.

"You doubt me, Mahoro?" Mara grinned at her. "You have good reasons to, Mahoro. Being a cyborg with your level of power and battle capabilities can give you a keen sense of judgment…no wonder you're called the 'maiden of a perfect heart'."

Mahoro's stare lowered at Mara as this got to her a bit. (If only I had my pistol or Slash with me…but she is speaking the truth…)

"How many more days you have remaining, Mahoro?" Mara asked out of curiosity.

"Only 291 days left, but what's so important to you about it?" Mahoro asked.

"Don't you ever wish that you don't have to worry about seeing the days you have left count down like day every morning when you get up?" Mara asked. "I know one thing is for sure is that you're afraid of disappearing from existence, away of those who you've grown to cherished since you arrived here."

"Why are you bringing this all up, Mara?" Mahoro asked.

"You should already know…I can offer you the one thing that even your superiors at VESPER couldn't give you while you served them. Do you know what that is?" Mara offered, as she opened a palm before her and a purple, energy orb appeared started to hover it. In it, it showed a grown up Mahoro in her days in the future, with her closest friends. Mahoro stared at the vision Mara showed long enough to actually believe it was true.

"Could that really be…me with them in the future?" Mahoro asked.

"That's right, kid…YOUR future. Imagine…a time in which you don't have to fear the remaining days of your lifespan, a future which you can spend up to an eternity with those you cherish. How about it, kid? It's not a bad deal, huh?"." Mara said. "And all you have to do is serve me for a while; I'll need your skills and abilities."

"Who do you think I look like, an android for hire?" Mahoro asked.

"That I do know of, but this is a great opportunity that shouldn't be passed up." Mara said. "I can assure you that you won't be disappointed when you team up with me, Mahoro."

"How can I be certain there won't be any catches?" Mahoro asked, sensing a great amount of feigning from the woman before her. Even the pointy bangs of her hair twitched on their own as she was trying to analyze this Mara's parlour tricks.

"Aw, come on…would you think I'm pulling your leg here? I'm only doing this for the sake of you in mind." Mara asked, trying to hide the look of frustration on her face with her wicked smile. (Damn…this goody-goody maid is coming unto me somehow.)

"I'm sorry, Miss Mara, but I took an oath long ago when I retired, to use my remaining days as a combat android to live in peace and to be in service to Suguru. I have no consideration in taking up arms for someone else; even if that person claims she can help me live past my limited lifespan." Mahoro bravely replied with a stern face. "Also, you should know that I'm in complete dedication to VESPER and no one else. If you plan to bring harm to Suguru and those around him for your own needs, I won't be so forgiving to you."

Mara clenched her hand and simply grinned at Mahoro. "Well, I guess you wouldn't reply in the manner I would have wanted, but take note to one warning, Mahoro…no one says no to a demon from Hell and gets away from it."

"What did you just say?" Before Mahoro could get an answer, Rind's twin battle axes were already in front on her face, as Rind suddenly appeared between the two.

"Mara…so I guess this is the reason why I was sent here." Rind said, glaring at Mara. "Why are you after this girl?"

"Long time no see, Rind." Mara simply grinned nervously as Mahoro looked on. "Funny for you to drop by when I was about to try and change this android's mind."

(I can't believe what I'm seeing!) She thought to herself, as this was quite the experience for her. (Is this some kind of conspiracy that has me at the centre of it all?)

"You're not going to do such a thing, Mara. Not ever." Rind said to her. "Now, knowing we all are in a habituated area, I really can't afford to fight you here, so I'm giving you a fair warning to leave now or suffer the consequences."

"Ha, you should really think over who you're trying to challenge, dear Rind. But I had no intention of fighting you today either…" Mara said as she floated back. "Sooner or later, Mahoro's own life will be in more grave danger than you ever think."

"Mara!" Rind shouted as she was about to attack, but Mara had already murmured a transportation spell which made her vanish in a large puff of smoke in front of Rind and Mahoro. Rind clenched her teeth, as she focused on Mahoro now, who was still in a fighting pose.

"Okay, I may not have any idea about what just happened, but you're better hope that you're another SAINT android!" Mahoro warned Rind, who simply rose up an arm to stop Mahoro from talking further.

"Mahoro Ando, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Rind said to her. "I can assure you that I'm not your enemy, but the person who you just met is most likely going to be one in the near future unless you listen to what I tell you."

"Who was Mara then?" Mahoro asked.

"As she states, a demon of Hell, First Class demon. Her only purpose is to bring misery for humans, and it looks like she has brewed up new plans." Rind said. "I, on the other hand, have been sent to make contact with you."

Mahoro took her time to examine Rind a bit before making a conclusion.

"I see…judging from your attire, you must be an actual Valkyrie." Mahoro said simply. "I've heard only vague tales about you in my memory data banks, but this is the first time I've ever gotten a chance to be face to face with one."

(Incredible…I've never expected an android to be fully prepared to accept the existence of other creations aside from aliens. Is this one of the reasons she needs to be protected, Kami-sama?) Rind thought as she collected herself. (I sense a great deal of mystery within her and Peorth as well knows about Mahoro, even I do remember the two of them never meeting before…)

"In any case, I don't think Mara will give up anytime soon on you. I'm just here to advise you about who your new enemies will be." Rind said as she turned her back at Mahoro. "If she does come by, rock music will make her dance and good luck charms weaken and paralyze her. Remember that and you should be fine."

"Uh…yeah, thanks for the advice." Mahoro said, unsure if that can actually work, but took heed of it anyway. "Oh, my…I'm so sorry this may seem abrupt, but I must go and meet a very dear friend of mine at the train station entrance. Please, excuse me…"

"The name's Rind." The fifth Goddess replied.

"Rind, it was an honour meeting you and I will take heed of your advice." Mahoro said as she leaped back down unto the street and started to walk with a quick pace to the train station. Still, Rind couldn't get the nagging feeling Mahoro's troubles were just beginning.

"I'd better tail her for the time being and see if Mara would come back for her…" Rind said as she headed to the opposite direction using her Goddess powers. A distance away, Mara clenched her fists as she had failed in making Mahoro join her.

"Curse you, Rind! Just when I was about to snag the most powerful of machinery in existence, you just had to but in!" Mara said to herself. "I will have to rethink things over before…"

Just as she was going to leave, she then spotted a young boy with long, blonde hair. He was dressed in a green-blue Chinese shirt and was watching the scenery from a distance from Mara.

"Hmm…looks like we got another player in the game…" Mara said to herself, and then she realized something. "Wait a minute…this essence I'm feeling from him…ah, yes. This one will do just as nicely…"

Mara decided to stay on the sidelines and watch what would happen next, as she then now see Mahoro and another girl with her on the rooftop, talking to one another. It was the same girl dressed in the green uniform and had the '370' tag on her chest.

"Looks like Mahoro picked up a new friend…" Mara said as she watched on. "That should be me with them as well!"

Before she can observe any longer, she was distracted by the arrival of three, large differently coloured battle robots with large extended glider wings that started to chase and fire at Mahoro and the other girl.

"What the…?" Mara exclaimed as she watched on. "This has just gotten heated up…I'll observe a bit more and see where this will lead to…"

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"I knew it….Mahoro's real danger doesn't lie with Mara alone." Rind said as she saw the robots pursuing Mahoro and firing after her from a distance. Taking out her twin battle axes once more, she then called upon her twin angels, Cool Mint and Spear Mint. The twin angels both had long flowing blonde hair, while one angel had one wing for the right while the next angel had the supporting left wing on its back.

"Whatever the case, the Almighty alone knows how far this will go in terms of how involved we all get." Rind spoke as she glided towards the battle zone above the buildings.

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ShardclawK: Wow, that had to be one of the coolest chapters I ever sat down to write in a story in a while. How did all of you like it? If any of you haven't seen Mahoromatic yet, you're missing out on one of the cutest (and most ecchiest) anime to come out from GAINAX. You got to watch it, as well as the second and final season series, 'Something more Beautiful', because I'm using the storyline from that anime as well in this story, it's quite essential that you do.

I just had to make 'The Return of the Maid' a basis of Mahoro's involvement in this fic, not only it happens to be one of my all time favourite Mahoromatic episodes, but I can't get enough of Ryuga and Slash, they are the reason I'm so into that show. (Second to the Triomatic girls and the storyline.) Oh, yeah…if anyone has seen the series, can anyone suggest to me a girl good enough to hook Kawahara up with? Hey, with Suguru x Mahoro and Hamaji x Minawa as part of the list of the pairings in this fic, the guy deserves some loving too, you know. I was thinking along the lines of him hooking up with Miyuki, or a pairing with Rin would be just as cool. I also have plans to get Ryuga, Slash and even Saori their own significant others as the story progress. If things go out well, I got quite a killer pairing featuring Slash most of you will like, but I need your inputs if you have any thoughts, people!

Just then, Mahoro, Minawa, the Triomatic girls, Miyuki, Rin and Chizuko and Saori Shikijo enters, wearing cute tight, revealing bikini outfits.

Rin: Shardclaw, now that we're part of this story ourselves, when do we show up in it?

ShardclawK: Um…one task at a time, girls. Its one thing to even think on how I should properly include you girls in this, but I can't really rush a good thing, especially with you involved.

Saori: Well, well…I do believe a bum rush session on Shardclaw is needed to quickly change his mind, don't you agree, girls?

Mahoro: No way, Miss Shikijo! All dirty thoughts are bad! Same goes to you too, Shardclaw!

ShardclawK: So why do you have the chocolate syrup and whipped cream for, hmm, Mahoro?

Mahoro: It's…it's the perfect substitute for body lotion! That's it!

ShardclawK: Liar…you're just as naughty as the other girls with you, aren't you?

Mahoro: Okay, I'll admit this only once…all dirty thoughts are good!

ShardclawK: Aw, geez…one of the downsides of having a harem like this. Anyway, here's the summary for the next chapter…

Next Chapter: Rind teams up with Mahoro in taking down the forces sent to capture Minawa! All this, as Mei-Ling gets to meet Vesper's commanders and staff. And just who are the Management? All the answers to this and more in the next update of this story, so see you then!

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	6. Clash of the Maiden Warriors, Part 1

Disclaimer: If you had read in the previous chapters, I do not own any of the characters and material who appeared so far in this story, they all belong to their respective companies and owners, while Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden belongs to Bunjuro Nakayama and Ditama, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Gainax Studios, Shaft, TBS, Pioneer LDC, Wani Books and the Mahoromatic Production Committee. But the story alone is mine and I do already have the girls from that anime all to myself, heh-heh…

ShardclawK: Okay, folks, I thought I'd keep the suspense to a minimum and post this chapter of this monster as soon as I got the chance to get your reactions of mixing Mahoromatic in this story. I won't start to drag with too much detail in this note, so I'll saving them for the end of the chapter. Just an important note before I begin, the last segment of this chapter takes place just sometime in the middle of the first episode of the 'Something More Beautiful' season before and around when Minawa appeared, so the fans of that show would recognise some scenes, and if not some differences and extra goodies. If not, I'll be more than happy to provide a link to the series if you haven't seen it yet.

Like in the previous chapters, there's even more surprise twists and plots ahead, so enjoy this chapter filled with enough battle Goddess, robots and combat androids to make your head spin in goodness! (You'll understand what I talking about once I get there, folks. Just level with me on this one.)

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Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 5: Clash of the Maiden Warriors, Part 1

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At the Masaki residence, across the other side of Japan, a young boy with a tanned complexion and short hair dressed in casual clothing was practicing his sword skills outside his home using a wooden kendo sword, as this was his daily task of keeping his skills sharp. Tenchi Masaki was thankful for the times of relaxation since Ryoko wasn't around to cause mischief and as a bonus, Washu wouldn't be trying to kidnap him against his will to use him as a guinea pig as always.

(At least I can get things done around here without those two having to start up some kind of trouble.) Tenchi thought to himself. (At least they went off some where else instead staying around here to interrupt my training…)

"Again, you're out of focus, Tenchi!" a stern male voice spoke as Tenchi got a hard tap on his head from a stick behind him. The Japanese teen rubbed the spot where he got hit and turned around to face a bearded male in his fifties, dressed in traditional Shinto shrine clothing and was wearing glasses. "I can see that one moment when you always drop your guard mentally that you're open!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, grandpa!" Tenchi cowered, having to deal with his grandfather's strict lesson.

"How many times have we done this, Tenchi? You need to be aware of what's around you in a battle and not let your mind wander." Katsuhito Masaki said, before he rubbed Tenchi's head. "But it's not that I blame you for letting this happen on rare occasions, you've improved a lot, Tenchi."

"I know, grandpa. It's all thanks to the experience for all these years." Tenchi said with a smile as he looked at Katsuhito. "Well, I see that we've been out here long enough, let's see if lunch is ready by now."

Tenchi nodded as he and his grandfather entered he kitchen where they were greeted with smiles from several other women in the same room. One of them a very attractive woman with long purple hair, that two single strands of it hung out from all the way and under her vibrant mushroom hair style to the ground. She was wearing a gold like head charm just above her temple as two earring like jewels hung out at each ends of it. She was dressed in a mix of a blue traditional Japanese kimono and a dress over it today.

"Back from training already, sir Tenchi?" the civilized female asked, as she saw Tenchi enter.

"I really can't miss your sister's cooking if I keep training, Ayeka." Tenchi replied to her as another girl, who had the shorted height of everyone else in the room giggled as a shade of red covered over her freckled nose. She had bright red, but innocent eyes, long blue hair that had two strands of it tied over her head in red, round hairpins. She also had a gold upside down triangle placed on the middle of her forehead. She was wearing the same kind of garment Ayeka had, only it a mix of was pink and green. Next to her, was a cute animal which looked like a brown rabbit with large ears, eating from a basket of carrots close by.

"Isn't that true, Sasami?" Katsuhito asked the young girl, who happened to be Ayeka's younger sister. Sasami only blushed as she got into finishing preparations for lunch.

"Well, everyone around here thinks my cooking is that special, I guess it's not really a surprise to know how eager you are for lunch everyday, isn't that right, Ryo-oh-ki?" Sasami asked, as her pet replied with a cherry, 'Meeeeooowww!'

It was just as when Sasami was about done cooking and was now starting serving the meal; Ryoko came back looking rather slumped with a grinning Washu watching her daughter in defeat.

"Hey, you guys made it back, eventually." Tenchi said, having already known Ryoko's wild adventure from before, as he remembered it clearly when he was used as a distraction to divert from bothering Washu's in her insane invention creations. "How did you manage to get up to Ryoko so fast this time, Washu?"

"I knew she wouldn't go anywhere else with my piece of equipment, than to the Morisato temple. And my assumptions were right, if I hadn't gotten there, I bet she and Skuld may have plotted against me." Washu spoke, taking a seat at the table.

"Serves her right for stirring up trouble in the first place." Ayeka simply stated, as Ryoko glared at her direction, then folded her arms.

"What was that, you boring, prissy princess who does nothing but sit around and watch soaps all day?" Ryoko said, as Ayeka glared at Ryoko.

"Now, now, you two…its time to enjoy some lunch, so cool it already." Tenchi waved his arms to try and prevent another fight between the two from starting. It was the last thing he needed right now, since whenever those two got in on, most of the property around them won't remain when the battle's over. Especially if the fight's over Tenchi himself and he would at times wound up getting hurt.

"Hey, you said you were both at Belldandy's place, right?" Sasami asked.

"That's right, and you guys wouldn't believe what we discovered while we were there." Ryoko said.

"What is it that you discovered, Ryoko?" another female voice said as a new female with blue eyes and long, dark green hair, most of it was resting on the right side of her head stepped in. She wore a dark yellow headband around her temple and a blue top blouse with a red tie, which had a gun holster strapped to the side. She has a long slender figure which her thighs were hugged by the uniform's grey jeans.

"Uh, Kiyone…you wouldn't believe it if I told you." Ryoko said to the Galaxy Police detective.

"Try me; we'd seen other crazy stuff in the past that would still puzzle us to this day." Kiyone simply replied as she sat down. Right behind her, another woman appeared, this one had tanned skin and long, curly and bouncy blonde hair. She had clear blue eyes and a rather ditzy appearance, as if she wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her. She was dressed in the same attire her partner Kiyone had on.

"Is it lunchtime already?" she asked, as Kiyone suddenly got a bit irritated at hearing her partner speak.

"What other reason we would leave the precinct in space just to be here today, huh, Mihoshi?" Kiyone said, as having to be with Mihoshi was probably the most unlucky thing that can happen to her. Kiyone was one of the GP's highest ranked police officers once upon a time ago, even having graduated second in class. However, since she got paired up with Mihoshi Kuramitsu, who constantly drives Kiyone nuts with her antics of falling asleep on the job and screwing everything up on a job. But still, those two have gotten used to one another for so long; they practically are like sisters who can't do without one another.

"Ah, don't hit me again, Kiyone! I said before I was sorry when I accidentally mistook that bus driver for a perp!" Mihoshi cowered at Kiyone's threat.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't acted like you're used to and scared the hell out of the poor dude by pointing your gun at him without having him give an explanation, I wouldn't be so mad at you!" Kiyone said, her eyebrow twitching.

"You're always angry with me…" Mihoshi said as she lowered her head.

"As we were saying before…" Washu cleared her throat before speaking. "Just wanted everyone to know that Belldandy and her sisters got a…'special guest' of sorts staying over with them right now."

"You make it sound as if this guest that is staying over with them is important, Washu." Ayeka said.

"Oh, he is. How many of you have heard about the famous Solid Snake?" Washu said causing everyone in the kitchen to react alarmed to her saying this.

"Wait, I heard that name all over the news this morning. Didn't they say he was involved in sinking that tanker over at the States and now he's a wanted terrorist?" Tenchi asked.

"The very same one." Ryoko replied. "He's the one staying over at Urd's place for the moment in hiding from some enemies who he thinks framed him."

"This is quite the development…" Ayeka said as she couldn't believe what she just heard. "But what surprises me the most is how Belldandy and her sisters would want to help Snake in hiding, since they have nothing to gain from this?"

"Geez, for a Jurai princess, you're not smart, aren't you?" Ryoko said, causing Ayeka to flare up once more.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll make you take back those words, you hear?" Ayeka growled at Ryoko.

"Yeah, you and what army?" Ryoko asked. "Those two wooden so called guardians of yours would only be good practice if they try to stop me."

Ayeka stared at Ryoko long enough that an electric charge can be seen between the two of them.

"Back to the subject at hand and taken our history with Belldandy and Keiichi, I'm sure we owe you all an explanation on why Snake is staying with them, much less is hiding right now." Washu said, ignoring her daughter getting set to fight Ayeka.

"You certainly do, Washu." Katsuhito said sternly. "It sounds like a very serious matter if the world most wanted criminal is in hiding with the Goddess sisters."

"There's much more to this than meets the eye, Katsuhito. I'll explain everything about it." Washu said, as she got started on telling everyone at the Masaki residence about her and Ryoko's meeting with Solid Snake and how he was involved with Belldandy and her sisters even before the tanker incident. With that aside, Tenchi and the others knew Snake and his partner, Otacon were good friends with Keiichi and company.

Then she told him about what Snake told them during the tanker mission. Everyone who heard this the first time was pretty much intrigued knowing Snake was actually one of the good guys who got put into the hot spot because of the Patriots. At the end, they were convinced of their story.

"Well, I guess this means Snake is innocent, huh?" Tenchi asked.

"That's how it is. So that's why Snake and his partner had decided to sit in the sidelines until they can think up of a plan to deal with this." Washu said. "Though he knows its risky being in the open, he says how he is willing to even let us help them."

"Convenient enough for all of us to get acquainted with the famous Solid Snake, doesn't it?" Kiyone asked.

"It does, but we may have to act with caution on this. If these Patriots can make up a story to frame Solid Snake and turn the world against him, it won't be long till people like Belldandy and her sisters, as well as this household get targeted by them if they are that powerful." Kasuhito spoke.

"Sounding a bit afraid of them, old man?" Ryoko said, as she smacked her fists together. "They don't sound too dangerous…and if they ever try to hurt Tenchi, I'll make sure to blast them where it hurts the most, so it will teach them a lesson not to mess with me!"

"Ryoko, you may not be familiar with the governmental powers that rule this planet, but I've heard similar rumours throughout history that could clearly point towards them." Kasuhito spoke serious to the space pirate. "It would be best to let Washu and Belldandy arrange a meeting for all of us to meet with the famous Solid Snake and his partner."

"Is there anything we can do by the meantime to get data on these Patriots? I can go into my databanks for related information that revolves around them…" Washu said.

"That sounds like an idea, but you'd best be careful that you don't get discovered." Kasuhito warned her.

"Relax; I'm much more cautious than to make a slip up. I can even I hack the Pentagon's databases and not get discovered until they at least update their primitive security systems." Washu said as she left the room. Kasuhito simply shook his head as Tenchi spoke now.

"When my father gets back from work, I'll ask him if he knows anything about any incidents in the past that could point to them as well…" Tenchi said getting up.

"Yes, its best you let him know about Washu and Ryoko's discovery when he gets back."

"I'll go around looking for information…Minagi or Yume can tell me what they know about the Patriots if they have data." Ryoko said as she vanished through the wall out of the room.

"She's looking to start up some kind of trouble again, I'm sure of it." Ayeka said in a gruff tone, pretty much annoyed by Ryoko getting set to start some kind of trouble again. "But as the situation does sound serious, I guess I can Azaka and Kamidake for information that can help."

"Even now, the Galaxy Police have started to question the incident surrounding that man…there's a big reward for information to determine if he is still alive or not and where to find him." Kiyone said seriously. "Mihoshi, I got to trust you from today to keep what we learned today a secret from the officials back at headquarters when we get back later, got it?"

"Okay, Kiyone, I promise." Mihoshi put up an arm before the expression on her face changed from being attentive, to a rather puzzled one as she asked her partner: "Um, what was it we're supposed to keep a secret about, Kiyone?"

"I don't believe this girl!" Kiyone exclaimed, not wanting to explain the whole story to Mihoshi as she had already forgotten it.

"Waahhh! It was such a long story, Kiyone, it was really hard to keep track!" Mihoshi bawled out as she started to get chased by an angry Kiyone out of the kitchen, leaving only Tenchi, Sasami, and Kasuhito in the room.

"It seems that a dangerous time is approaching, Tenchi. We might as well start preparing it ourselves…" Kasuhito said. "The omen that surrounds this conspiracy of Solid Snake is something none of us had encountered before."

"Is it that serious, grandpa?" Tenchi asked.

"By the looks of things, this is just the beginning of things to come." Kasuhito replied. "In any case, we'll see what we ourselves can do to help Belldandy's friends in this when we meet them soon."

"From the way Ryoko and Washu talked about Snake, he doesn't sound like a bad person. I can't wait to meet him one of these days." Sasami said.

"Same here." Tenchi said, as he taught to himself a bit. (I've never seen grandpa looked this serious in a while…I'm getting a weird feeling too that whoever these Patriots are, we'll be hearing a lot more about them sooner or later…)

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Meanwhile back at Nekomi city, Urd had just completed shopping from its supermarket, carrying grocery bags of beer and sake. She brought the beer in case Snake would need it as he was staying with her and her sisters for what it could be an indefinite period. She had been shopping for two hours, thinking to herself if avoiding him when he asked about Hild was the right thing.

"How convenient for me that all the alcohol back home was done by the time Snake asked about…her." Urd said to herself, as she found her broom and hopped on. "But still…why did Ryoko have to bring that up when Snake was around to be curious about it? Jeez…"

By using her goddess powers, Urd was able to make the broom airborne and soon, she was flying over the city back to the temple. During the trip back home, she took the time to think about what she has to say to Snake.

(I'm sure Belldandy has told him about whom exactly Hild is by now…and how we are related. I bet it will be quite a shock to him when he finds out.) Urd thought, shaking her head. (I would be just fooling myself if I try to keep Snake away from some of my darkest secrets while he's staying…but then again, Snake have had his share of his from the amount of time I've been with him do far…so, I guess it probably wouldn't be any different.)

She soon found herself back at the temple, where she met Keiichi and Skuld tinkering with his motorcycle. Banpei was near its creator, giving out tools to her as it was commanded, while Keiichi was having a bento lunch which was cooked by Belldandy.

"You're back, finally." Skuld lamented, as she waved a wrench at her older sister. "You left in a hurry that you got Snake worried as heck about you."

"Yeah, Belldandy told me that both Ryoko and Washu were here a while ago when I got back from the Motor Club." Keiichi said.

"So I got some errands to run, you guys shouldn't make a fuss about it." Urd replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides…I knew for sure if Snake's going to be here for a long time from now on, he will eventually know more about us and who else we've tangoed in the past, sooner or later."

"You just weren't expecting Ryoko to say it first though, huh?" Skuld said, causing Urd to hang her head.

"Yeah, you got me right there." Urd replied. "Anyway, where is Snake anyway?"

"He's probably watching the television, but with all that's going on about him all over right now, I guess he isn't too comfortable watching himself as a bad guy on TV." Skuld said. "So, he's probably in his room or something."

"I'm going to be straight up and talk to him about this right now. Wish me luck." Urd said as she walked on into the temple and into the kitchen where she left the most of the beer and sake in the fridge, before making up her mind to take two cans of beer for herself and Snake. Heading straight for the room he was staying in, she gently knocked on the door to let him know she was entering.

"Hey, Snake…I'm back. Can I come in?" Urd asked. "I needed to talk to you about…"

Before she can finish, the door opened and Snake stood in the doorway, his arms folded. He seemed ready for an explanation Urd had for him.

"You don't need to trouble yourself into telling me the queen of Hell itself is your mother, Urd. I already got the details from you sisters soon as you left." He said. "But I'd rather hear it from you…does this Hild bother you that much, even though you're related?"

Urd simply sighed as she opened up her can of beer and stepped into his room. From what she can see, Snake was busy sorting his inventory of items, while his Sneaking Suit was still being dried out from the all water it absorbed.

"I really don't consider her and me to be related…not anymore these days." Urd said, sipping her beer. "I'm not going to ever be like her, Snake. She's the queen of Hell and she probably wants me to follow her footsteps somehow."

"In other words, you want to be the opposite of her heritage, huh?" Snake asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Snake?" Urd stated, placing the empty beer can in a trash bin nearby. "Even though I'm a half demon, I'm still part goddess as well…I've chosen long ago to do good for people, not the opposite."

"But Hild is still your mother, whether you don't want to accept the reality of it or not." Snake said to her, before sighing a bit as he turned his back. "And in a way…that's why I envy you so much whenever I hear more about your past."

"What do you mean by that, Snake?" Urd asked, not sure of his meaning.

"Urd…I never knew my mother since I was born and to make my family matters worst, my father was just another megalomaniac that I had to kill with my own two hands before he could have started another nuclear holocaust." Snake said seriously facing her. "You're lucky that you still have parents around that you can call your own. Me, all I can know about my family was that I was part on an experiment of cloning from Big Boss's genes and that I had five other dead brothers. That was as far as it goes in my family tree."

Urd's heart melted when she now realised that Snake had a point. For a man whose birth and fate was constructed by other people's wishes and not his, he knows how important family are to one another, especially from the time he spent with Belldandy and her sisters. Sensing the heartache from Snake as he said this, she got up and took his hand.

"Oh, David…I'm sorry." Urd said as her gaze lowered to the floor. "I've never realised how…"

Before she continued, Snake had placed a finger on her lips as he shook his head. "You didn't need to apologize, Urd. I'm just helping you see something important here and that's you got a family that's real enough to trust and depend on. Look, Urd…I know you don't like your demon half, and I may know your reasons. But that doesn't mean you can go on having a grudge with your mother for the rest of your life because you don't see eye to eye on things."

"But…"

"No more 'buts', Urd. Since I'm staying here for the time being, the most you should do is not just let me know about the other people you've been trying to avoid in your life, but at least get things patched up between your mother and yourself." Snake told her. "If that's too tough for you to do, let me in to give you a hand in it."

"You got to be kidding, Snake. You certainly want to help me bury the hatchet with my mother, the queen of Hell?" Urd asked with a nervous grin. "You do know that is not really an option you can make, you know that?"

"Yeah, but it's worth the shot if I have to see you feeling better about your mother afterwards." Snake said with a smile. "Come on, Urd…you know I'm right about how important family, no matter who it is or where they originate from, so why feel low about it?"

"I may not be able to share your level of enthusiasm, but its not going to be easy facing her and telling her we what will happen in the future, especially with the two of us together."

"I'm sure she will understand, Urd." Snake said.

"I'm hoping so. The last thing I need is her getting between the two of us, Snake. That's surely the last thing I need right now…" Urd spoke as she shook her head.

"Nothing and no one's going to separate us, Urd. I can promise you that." Snake said as he held her closer to his body. "You got my word."

"Oh, Snake…thank you." Urd said as she tightened their embrace and had her head buried into his chest area, where she felt most assured and comfortable there. "I promise whatever secret you will need to know in the future, I will have no problem telling you what I know. But I can assure you most of it isn't as painful as being around my mother."

"That's good to know." Snake said as he simply kissed above the upside down triangle mark on Urd's forehead. Urd felt sure Snake would help her now come to terms with her mother since he was willing to do so for the sake of her happiness. "Now, with that aside…are there any other persons from the past that bothers you up to now?"

"Oh, really, David. You don't have to worry about that; lets just focus on what we're going to do about this situation regarding the Patriots." Urd said.

"Yeah, you're right. We can't dwell about the past for sure." Snake replied with a nod, with Urd breathed a simple sigh of relief to herself.

(It's a good thing he doesn't know about Troubadour as yet…but I'm sure my annoying little sister will tell him about him as well as any of my other secrets she may already know eventually.) She thought to herself. (This should give me an opportunity to warn her about blabbing out things that shouldn't be said with a warning or two.)

"Come on, David…let's go have lunch together with everyone else, okay?" Urd offered as she wrapped an arm around Snake's waist.

"I'm with you on that one." Snake said as the two left the room to join Keiichi and the others for lunch.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, on another part of the country, in a city that was named Hiryu…

Rind was observing the actions of the citizens of the largely populated town. She was acting on accord on a new mission the Almighty had assigned her. At first, the objective was unclear as simple and clear it stated, only her experience in battle can match her for such a mission. The objective of her mission was to:

_Meet and secure a fourteen year old Japanese girl named Mahoro Ando. _

The fact that the Almighty knew all about Mahoro being a combat android was not a surprise to her, but why would he order Rind to make contact with her? And more importantly, why would she need to be protected?

"He wouldn't give much in detail, so I'm assuming this is something I will have to piece together for myself to find out how this ties into the Yggdrasil's current operations as of late. This Mahoro may be a link of some sorts, no wonder she sounds extremely important." She said to herself. "Well…only one way to find out if I go around and scout for clues…eventually I'll run into something."

With that, Rind continued making her way across one rooftop across to another, searching for this Mahoro Ando. Meanwhile, down below, amongst the suburb neighborhoods, a young girl in her teens was running by. She had on a green, tight jumpsuit around her torso, the number '370' tagged on the left of her chest area, while her legs were tightly snuggled in grey color as part of the suit. She had a short hairstyle of a light strawberry blonde that had a red corset over it.

"I must find her…quickly before they find me…" the girl said to herself as she ran further into the city.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the same time in the city somewhere else, a young girl with long dark blue hair, which most of it was tied into a large yellow ribbon behind her neck area and clad in a long blue maid's uniform dress complete with a large white apron and a maid's cap on, brown dress shoes and short, frilly white socks. She had a red and yellow broach that had a red dropping ribbon below it. Two short bangs of her hair hung down at both sides of her face, while there were two pointy ones which stuck outside of her head. They seemed to move as if they have a life on their own every time she reacts to something.

She was in the process of shopping, a bright innocent smile on her face as she had brought some vegetables from the provisions stall. Searching around a bit, she gave herself a small nod.

"I might as well get myself a snack while I wait on Suguru…" she said to herself as she bowed to the store's owner. "Thank you again for the discount on the radish, sir. I know this would come in handy in making dinner tonight."

"Hey, anytime, Mahoro." The owner replied to her with a big grin as Mahoro started to walk. It seemed she was very popular among the townsfolk of Hiryu. The android maid started to walk down further into the shopping district, just then her old fighting instincts kicked in as she stopped and felt an unusual presence watching her from the shadows.

(This feeling…could it be Ryuga?) Mahoro stopped to think for a moment. (No, this couldn't be him, he and I had put our differences aside some time ago and now we're allies. This feeling is much more different…yet even more powerful than anything I've ever sensed before.)

As Mahoro wanted to find out more, she sprinted out from the public's view and leaped upwards to one of the building's roofs. Searching around, she then heard clapping from behind her back.

"Well, well…you actually sensed me from quite a distance. Much of what I expected from VESPER's number one combat android." A female voice spoke as Mahoro stepped back in a fighting posture at the sight of Mara in front of her, levitating and clad in her usual menacing outfit and the sly grin on her face.

"You…are you from SAINT?" Mahoro asked, nearly puzzled at the sight of Mara.

"No, kid…let's just say I have heard of you from reliable sources where I come from." Mara said. "Let's cut to the chase…I'm Mara, and I've been observing you for a long while, Mahoro Ando.)

"Then you must be from the Management!" Mahoro shouted. "If you have come here to harm Suguru, I'll…"

"Whoa, whoa, ease up, kid. I'm not really you're enemy, just someone with special…interest of you." Mara said, placing her hand on her cheek as she thought to herself.

(The Management? This is a new one. It seems Mahoro does have more enemies than she had with the SAINT alien androids.) Mara thought to herself. (This could get interesting I go delve a little deeper…)

"What is your business with me then?" Mahoro asked, still on the guard and very suspicious of Mara. "You're not from SAINT, VESPER or the Management, what are you then?"

"If you want to put it that way, you can say I'm a powerful person of great influence." Mara said. "Mahoro…I know about your history and the countdown on your lifespan. I'm here to see to it that you can live beyond that."

"That's not possible. That was how I was designed to live by and not even someone who claims to have power unimaginable can change that." Mahoro said.

"You doubt me, Mahoro?" Mara grinned at her. "You have good reasons to, Mahoro. Being a cyborg with your level of power and battle capabilities can give you a keen sense of judgment…no wonder you're called the 'maiden of a perfect heart'."

Mahoro's stare lowered at Mara as this got to her a bit. (If only I had my pistol or Slash with me…but she is speaking the truth…)

"How many more days you have remaining, Mahoro?" Mara asked out of curiosity.

"Only 291 days left, but what's so important to you about it?" Mahoro asked.

"Don't you ever wish that you don't have to worry about seeing the days you have left count down like day every morning when you get up?" Mara asked. "I know one thing is for sure is that you're afraid of disappearing from existence, away of those who you've grown to cherished since you arrived here."

"Why are you bringing this all up, Mara?" Mahoro asked.

"You should already know…I can offer you the one thing that even your superiors at VESPER couldn't give you while you served them. Do you know what that is?" Mara offered, as she opened a palm before her and a purple, energy orb appeared started to hover it. In it, it showed a grown up Mahoro in her days in the future, with her closest friends. Mahoro stared at the vision Mara showed long enough to actually believe it was true.

"Could that really be…me with them in the future?" Mahoro asked.

"That's right, kid…YOUR future. Imagine…a time in which you don't have to fear the remaining days of your lifespan, a future which you can spend up to an eternity with those you cherish. How about it, kid? It's not a bad deal, huh?"." Mara said. "And all you have to do is serve me for a while; I'll need your skills and abilities."

"Who do you think I look like, an android for hire?" Mahoro asked.

"That I do know of, but this is a great opportunity that shouldn't be passed up." Mara said. "I can assure you that you won't be disappointed when you team up with me, Mahoro."

"How can I be certain there won't be any catches?" Mahoro asked, sensing a great amount of feigning from the woman before her. Even the pointy bangs of her hair twitched on their own as she was trying to analyze this Mara's parlour tricks.

"Aw, come on…would you think I'm pulling your leg here? I'm only doing this for the sake of you in mind." Mara asked, trying to hide the look of frustration on her face with her wicked smile. (Damn…this goody-goody maid is coming unto me somehow.)

"I'm sorry, Miss Mara, but I took an oath long ago when I retired, to use my remaining days as a combat android to live in peace and to be in service to Suguru. I have no consideration in taking up arms for someone else; even if that person claims she can help me live past my limited lifespan." Mahoro bravely replied with a stern face. "Also, you should know that I'm in complete dedication to VESPER and no one else. If you plan to bring harm to Suguru and those around him for your own needs, I won't be so forgiving to you."

Mara clenched her hand and simply grinned at Mahoro. "Well, I guess you wouldn't reply in the manner I would have wanted, but take note to one warning, Mahoro…no one says no to a demon from Hell and gets away from it."

"What did you just say?" Before Mahoro could get an answer, Rind's twin battle axes were already in front on her face, as Rind suddenly appeared between the two.

"Mara…so I guess this is the reason why I was sent here." Rind said, glaring at Mara. "Why are you after this girl?"

"Long time no see, Rind." Mara simply grinned nervously as Mahoro looked on. "Funny for you to drop by when I was about to try and change this android's mind."

(I can't believe what I'm seeing!) She thought to herself, as this was quite the experience for her. (Is this some kind of conspiracy that has me at the centre of it all?)

"You're not going to do such a thing, Mara. Not ever." Rind said to her. "Now, knowing we all are in a habituated area, I really can't afford to fight you here, so I'm giving you a fair warning to leave now or suffer the consequences."

"Ha, you should really think over who you're trying to challenge, dear Rind. But I had no intention of fighting you today either…" Mara said as she floated back. "Sooner or later, Mahoro's own life will be in more grave danger than you ever think."

"Mara!" Rind shouted as she was about to attack, but Mara had already murmured a transportation spell which made her vanish in a large puff of smoke in front of Rind and Mahoro. Rind clenched her teeth, as she focused on Mahoro now, who was still in a fighting pose.

"Okay, I may not have any idea about what just happened, but you're better hope that you're another SAINT android!" Mahoro warned Rind, who simply rose up an arm to stop Mahoro from talking further.

"Mahoro Ando, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Rind said to her. "I can assure you that I'm not your enemy, but the person who you just met is most likely going to be one in the near future unless you listen to what I tell you."

"Who was Mara then?" Mahoro asked.

"As she states, a demon of Hell, First Class demon. Her only purpose is to bring misery for humans, and it looks like she has brewed up new plans." Rind said. "I, on the other hand, have been sent to make contact with you."

Mahoro took her time to examine Rind a bit before making a conclusion.

"I see…judging from your attire, you must be an actual Valkyrie." Mahoro said simply. "I've heard only vague tales about you in my memory data banks, but this is the first time I've ever gotten a chance to be face to face with one."

(Incredible…I've never expected an android to be fully prepared to accept the existence of other creations aside from aliens. Is this one of the reasons she needs to be protected, Kami-sama?) Rind thought as she collected herself. (I sense a great deal of mystery within her and Peorth as well knows about Mahoro, even I do remember the two of them never meeting before…)

"In any case, I don't think Mara will give up anytime soon on you. I'm just here to advise you about who your new enemies will be." Rind said as she turned her back at Mahoro. "If she does come by, rock music will make her dance and good luck charms weaken and paralyze her. Remember that and you should be fine."

"Uh…yeah, thanks for the advice." Mahoro said, unsure if that can actually work, but took heed of it anyway. "Oh, my…I'm so sorry this may seem abrupt, but I must go and meet a very dear friend of mine at the train station entrance. Please, excuse me…"

"The name's Rind." The fifth Goddess replied.

"Rind, it was an honour meeting you and I will take heed of your advice." Mahoro said as she leaped back down unto the street and started to walk with a quick pace to the train station. Still, Rind couldn't get the nagging feeling Mahoro's troubles were just beginning.

"I'd better tail her for the time being and see if Mara would come back for her…" Rind said as she headed to the opposite direction using her Goddess powers. A distance away, Mara clenched her fists as she had failed in making Mahoro join her.

"Curse you, Rind! Just when I was about to snag the most powerful of machinery in existence, you just had to but in!" Mara said to herself. "I will have to rethink things over before…"

Just as she was going to leave, she then spotted a young boy with long, blonde hair. He was dressed in a green-blue Chinese shirt and was watching the scenery from a distance from Mara.

"Hmm…looks like we got another player in the game…" Mara said to herself, and then she realized something. "Wait a minute…this essence I'm feeling from him…ah, yes. This one will do just as nicely…"

Mara decided to stay on the sidelines and watch what would happen next, as she then now see Mahoro and another girl with her on the rooftop, talking to one another. It was the same girl dressed in the green uniform and had the '370' tag on her chest.

"Looks like Mahoro picked up a new friend…" Mara said as she watched on. "That should be me with them as well!"

Before she can observe any longer, she was distracted by the arrival of three, large differently coloured battle robots with large extended glider wings that started to chase and fire at Mahoro and the other girl.

"What the…?" Mara exclaimed as she watched on. "This has just gotten heated up…I'll observe a bit more and see where this will lead to…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I knew it….Mahoro's real danger doesn't lie with Mara alone." Rind said as she saw the robots pursuing Mahoro and firing after her from a distance. Taking out her twin battle axes once more, she then called upon her twin angels, Cool Mint and Spear Mint. The twin angels both had long flowing blonde hair, while one angel had one wing for the right while the next angel had the supporting left wing on its back.

"Whatever the case, the Almighty alone knows how far this will go in terms of how involved we all get." Rind spoke as she glided towards the battle zone above the buildings.

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ShardclawK: Wow, that had to be one of the coolest chapters I ever sat down to write in a story in a while. How did all of you like it? If any of you haven't seen Mahoromatic yet, you're missing out on one of the cutest (and most ecchiest) anime to come out from GAINAX. You got to watch it, as well as the second and final season series, 'Something more Beautiful', because I'm using the storyline from that anime as well in this story, it's quite essential that you do.

I just had to make 'The Return of the Maid' a basis of Mahoro's involvement in this fic, not only it happens to be one of my all time favourite Mahoromatic episodes, but I can't get enough of Ryuga and Slash, they are the reason I'm so into that show. (Second to the Triomatic girls and the storyline.) Oh, yeah…if anyone has seen the series, can anyone suggest to me a girl good enough to hook Kawahara up with? Hey, with Suguru x Mahoro and Hamaji x Minawa as part of the list of the pairings in this fic, the guy deserves some loving too, you know. I was thinking along the lines of him hooking up with Miyuki, or a pairing with Rin would be just as cool. I also have plans to get Ryuga, Slash and even Saori their own significant others as the story progress. If things go out well, I got quite a killer pairing featuring Slash most of you will like, but I need your inputs if you have any thoughts, people!

Just then, Mahoro, Minawa, the Triomatic girls, Miyuki, Rin and Chizuko and Saori Shikijo enters, wearing cute tight, revealing bikini outfits.

Rin: Shardclaw, now that we're part of this story ourselves, when do we show up in it?

ShardclawK: Um…one task at a time, girls. Its one thing to even think on how I should properly include you girls in this, but I can't really rush a good thing, especially with you involved.

Saori: Well, well…I do believe a bum rush session on Shardclaw is needed to quickly change his mind, don't you agree, girls?

Mahoro: No way, Miss Shikijo! All dirty thoughts are bad! Same goes to you too, Shardclaw!

ShardclawK: So why do you have the chocolate syrup and whipped cream for, hmm, Mahoro?

Mahoro: It's…it's the perfect substitute for body lotion! That's it!

ShardclawK: Liar…you're just as naughty as the other girls with you, aren't you?

Mahoro: Okay, I'll admit this only once…all dirty thoughts are good!

ShardclawK: Aw, geez…one of the downsides of having a harem like this. Anyway, here's the summary for the next chapter…

Next Chapter: Rind teams up with Mahoro in taking down the forces sent to capture Minawa! All this, as Mei-Ling gets to meet Vesper's commanders and staff. And just who are the Management? All the answers to this and more in the next update of this story, so see you then!

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	7. Clash of the Maiden Warriors, Part 2

Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own these characters or the storylines and materials associated with them, but like most people such as you and me, I sure wished I did. See the previous chapters for disclaimers.

ShardclawK: Sorry for the really long delay, things got really busy for me over time. At least the hiatus gave me time to work out some new ideas that would surely please the lot of you who had stayed on for the progress of the story. So here I am to continue this story and hopefully get things back on track, because I have lots of surprises in store for you to enjoy.

Another note before I begin, some of you may have taken notice of the added chapter at the starting of this story, sorry to those who actually mistook it for an update as its it's not really one, but more of a casting call of the characters that will be appearing in this story, so check it out if you haven't seen it yet for some pleasant surprises. Enjoy this update for now; it's a real great one.

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Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 6: Clash of the Maiden Warriors, Part 2

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The helicopter ride from New York to the Japan city of Yebisu took about three hours, given that it was one of the Philanthropy funded helicopters that was recently brought operation after much debate. One of its precious passengers was the former FOXHOUND technician, Mei-Ling. She still appeared in the teenage state, even though two years passed since Shadow Moses.

Dressed in a body fitting grey military outfit formed under Philanthropy, she had on a matching beret on her head and was also carrying documents, while two burly agents were seated next to her. She was being escorted to the secret headquarters of the secret defense organization known as VESPER, where she would discuss to their officials the possibility of allying themselves with the group as a means of a strong sponsorship for the newly formed Metal Gear hunting group.

She felt tired due to the earlier incidents which involved Snake being caught up in the sunken tanker disaster, but she braved any doubts about this getting this meeting done without any snags.

(I'm sure they will know that Snake wasn't the one who sunk the Discovery, as Hal said they were set up.) Mei-Ling thought to herself. (But then again, I'm not totally sure how these VESPER people would react to this…the Colonel may have said some good things about these people, but it pays to be cautious in case.)

"We've finally made it, Ms. Ling." The helicopter pilot told her as he approached the landing dock on top of a tall building in the city. Mei nodded to the pilot as she and her escorts left the helicopter to meet two uniformed dressed men, a long blue haired young and handsome male wearing a scientist's coat and a tall, slender woman with short and brown hair also in military uniform.

The helicopter left the landing dock as Mei approached the people of VESPER, where the woman greeted herself to her by bowing to her.

"Welcome to VESPER headquarters, Ms. Mei Ling. I'm the secretary for the Minister here, Eimi Shinna." She said. "I take it that your trip went well."

"Yes, it certainly did. I'm glad to be here to represent my organization today." Mei replied by bowing to Enmi.

"Roy certainly said that he had an exceptional professional in the surveillance field, but he never said that you're still almost a teenager." One of the men spoke, as he wore glasses. "Ah, excuse me…I should introduce my self. I'm the Sub Commander of VESPER, Yoshihiko Gunji and this is the Commander, Hayato Daimon."

Hayato, who was as tall as Yoshihiko, also had straight hair, his stern and concerning eyes staring at Mei Ling saluted to the Chinese girl. "It is truly an honor for one of FOXHOUND's technological best operatives from the Shadow Moses mission to be here with us, Roy has spoken much praises about your role, Mei Ling."

"Yes, we won't doubt his word. We've known him from the days of Big Boss's running of FOXHOUND." Gunji said.

"I see then, it is true that you do go all the way back." Mei nodded. "So you can guess why we are here today?"

"Yes, we shouldn't waste a minute; Leader is waiting especially for you." Hayato said.

"Leader, you say?" Mei asked, quizzed.

"He is the true commander who runs VESPER, but even we don't know his true identity, though time and time again, we've trusted his judgments that aided us through the years and the war against the aliens." Eimi said.

"In any case, we will take you to the conference room where we will have our meeting, Mei Ling. Please follow me and Mr. Hokaze this way." Eimi said.

"That's would be me, I should have introduced myself earlier." The handsome blue haired male spoke to Mei Ling with a gentle smile. "I'm the researcher for the technological department here at VESPER, Dr. Minato Hokaze."

"Nice to meet you, Minato." Mei smiled back to him.

"I do hope there is a way we can start working together, your dedication into the surveillance system field is remarkable." Minato said to her as they walked along the hallways of VESPER headquarters, making their way to their conference room. "Your Soliton radar system is quite infamous now."

"Oh, please, you don't have to be so flattered about it, doctor. It was just a further step in counterterrorist surveillance we needed for the Shadow Moses mission, that's all." Mei Ling said. "But I appreciate the praise anyway."

Soon after, Mei Ling found herself in a room where a large golden insignia was displayed on the monitor on the wall in front of her. As Minato, Eimi, Hayato and Gunji took their seats at the sides, the symbol lit up as Enmi presented Leader to the Philanthropy representative.

"Ms. Ling, may we introduce to you, Leader, the man responsible for the development of VESPER as you know it today." Eimi said, as a male voice spoke from the PA system where the symbol is.

"Welcome to VESPER headquarters, Ms. Ling. You are among the first to be honored with this chance to be witness of this organization." Leader said to her as Mei Ling replied.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to be here for the representation of Philanthropy today, sir." Mei Ling replied. "Colonel Campbell has told me about the facts and reasons your organization exists and its' hard for me to believe that an organization created to combat invading alien forces actually do exist."

"Yes. FOXHOUND was known as the wet works organization formed by Big Boss to combat terrorism, but how ironic that later on, he would become one who would form Outer Heaven." Leader said. "But we are not here to discuss the past; this is about his legacy making a name for the benefit of humanity, Solid Snake."

"Yes, we need to continue the campaign of taking down Metal Gear that is being secretly being built all over the world." Mei Ling said. "But with the current situation…"

"It could be possible that the Management staged the incident, Leader." Gunji said.

"The Management?" Mei Ling asked.

"A group of secret shadow leaders who have been ruling the world since man has come to depend on one another." Leader said. "They co-ordinate everything in the world's governments to their tastes…they do not accept things going otherwise."

"We have reason to believe that soon, the Management will cause a rift in the soon to be growing relationship between man and SAINT, a goal we have been striving for years since the invasions ended and will eventually bring mankind to ruin under their rule." Hayato said. "I wouldn't be surprised that the involvement of Metal Gear is also in their plans."

"That is why we require Snake's experience in confronting the threat that is the Management, for they have plans for one particular boy." Leader said, as the monitor showed a Japanese boy in his school uniform with brown hair and was wearing glasses. "This is Suguru Misato, fourteen years old and attending high school."

"Is there something specifically special about Suguru?" Mei Ling asked.

"Yes, his father was former commander of VESPER, Ryo Misato." Leader said. "His mother was involved in a hit and run accident before. They never found the driver to this day, while Ryo was killed in action a few years later."

"How sad." Mei Ling shook her head, feeling sorry for the boy.

"Since then, he has been living by himself, until Mahoro retired and chose to spend the rest of her activation days with Suguru as his maid." Leader said. "The reason why we need someone to watch over them is that Mahoro is ever getting close to her deactivation limit. She won't be around to help Suguru when the fighting starts."

"And you need to do this without personally getting too close to Suguru, knowing his relation to VESPER, am I right?"

"That is the case, but up to now, Suguru doesn't know the full truth of VESPER's existence." Leader said. "It would be efficient for us if Snake becomes part of the organization under Philanthropy, so it would make it less suspicious for Suguru to think he was being watched."

"I'm not sure Snake is ready for a bodyguard mission…" Mei Ling said.

"We are prepared to offer incentives to him and his partners upon agreement." Leader said. "One of them is a stay at a much provided safe house where all his needs can be met. I happen to know the owner quite well."

The monitor then showed a large and wide mansion that was bigger than most buildings Mei Ling had ever seen.

"Located just a few miles from the city, is the estate of Taro Hanauyko, one of the youngest men alive with such a large fortune from his grandparents, making him one of the richest and most influential political figures on the planet." Leader spoke. "An estimated number of two hundred plus maids have been assigned to help him in each and every field there is."

"You're letting Snake and Otacon stay at a mansion full of maids?" Mei Ling asked. "That's a crazy idea, sir! Just what makes you think that they would be able to help Snake while he's in hiding?"

"You shouldn't doubt the Hanauyko maid team branch, Ms. Ling. Each of these maids is skilled in the most noteworthy fields and is even assigned to specific departments to run the mansion, ranging from the clothing and costume, HR, food and beverage, administration and secretary, medical, intelligence, security, police, finance and technology departments." Leader said.

"All of these maids can do that?" Mei Ling asked, bewildered.

"I told you, they are not simple maids, they are quite dedicated in their duties and are quite efficient." Leader said. "With their assistance during Snake's stay, it can be assured that he can stay in alert of the movements from the enemies that have targeted Suguru."

(Not if he dies from seeing all these maids that will be seeing to his every need first…) Mei Ling thought, her brow twitching a bit. (And I fear to think how Otacon will react when he hears this. His reaction would be something I wouldn't like to see.)

"One question, sir, does this mean that the biggest military family in the world, the Jihoh clan who is now part of the Hanaukyo household would eventually be a sponsor for Philanthropy?" Hayato asked, causing Mei Ling to stare up.

"Wait, not THE Jihohs? You guys know about them?" Mei Ling asked. "They are among the most powerful of the financial superpowers that currently exist in the world and their daughter is the become heir to the empire once she is married."

"Yes, you must be referring to Ryuka. She's the spunky military nut of the family who's to wed Taro soon, but she still has to find what it takes to be a good wife. She's living with Taro at the moment, observing his movements until she makes a decision." Leader said.

"So, in other words, you want the war princess to have the sponsorship going for Philanthropy as well?" Mei Ling asked.

"Her family has been interested in the activities of Philanthropy for awhile, not to mention Ryuka seems to have trailed Solid Snake's ventures in her early years. You can go as far as saying that he's a war hero to her, considering she's been involved in military affairs all her life. This would be a good opportunity for her to be easily convinced in backing Philanthropy financially."

Mei Ling couldn't make out what to think of it, as nutty as it sounds, but she still thought it would be a greater good for Philanthropy. They would already gain allies from outside America and the prospects of living in a mansion sounds good. Not to mention the skilled staff at the Hanauyko mansion would keep Snake and Otacon up to date with not only Management's activities, but with Revolver Ocelot's as well.

"I will consider the offer, though I will need to speak to my comrades back at Philanthropy, including Solid Snake about this development." Mei Ling said.

"Do take your time; we won't rush your decision. But you must convince Snake that for Suguru and Mahoro's sake, he must accept this mission if he has to clear his name." Leader said. "The fate of mankind rests on his involvement, Ms. Ling."

Mei Ling saluted to Leader and the rest of VESPER. "I'll see to it that he made up his mind, you can count on me."

"Now, the meeting is adjourned." Eimi announced. "Ms. Ling, allow me to give you a guided tour of headquarters before you leave."

"Yes, I would very much like that. I especially want to see Minato as well before I leave; there are some things I need to ask him about." Mei Ling said, as Minato stood up.

"Well, we should be on the way, Mei Ling. Please, I'll take you to my research lab and I'll reveal to you my research on the combat android we've created that would interest you."

Mei stood up and left the conference room as Hayato and Gunji spoke to Leader.

"Leader, do you think having Snake work for us is going to change Mahoro's fate?" Hayato asked. "Even if the Management threat is diverted from his intervention, she still has her remaining days of function and at current, there is no way to reverse or stop if from happening."

"Yes, Mahoro's fate is sealed, as sad as it sounds. It is my only regret that we cannot to anything to stop if, but we can only hope that with Snake's participation of our fight against the Management soon, Suguru won't have to suffer a greater loss because his father was a VESPER commander." Leader said.

"I do hope his decision may as well change the course of everything we've staked our lives on." Gunji said.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, on the rooftops of Hiyru City, Mahoro and the android, 370, were battling it out against the Man Eaters, machines created by Management to destroy on sight.

However, they had a long way to go before they can match Mahoro's power, as she and 370 faced these machines with their unique abilities and powers.

"Allow me to fight with you." 370 said, her left fist glowing with energy.

Mahoro drew the attention of one of the robots as another followed 370. Mahoro took out a knife from a strap attached to her leg underneath her long maid's skirt and flung it at the Man Eater that gave her chase, while she leapt on top of it and grabbed unto a pole to gain momentum. She then flung her body to grab unto the wing of the Man Eater that was chasing 370 and turned it on its underside.

"Hit it now!" Mahoro shouted as 370 fired her energy shots at the Man Eater, which crashed near her between its legs. Mahoro then used a wing she was still holding unto and threw it at the enemy Man Eater, which fell down from the attack.

"My, it seems that your creations still need to be worked on." The young boy said, watching the battle from a distance. "But then again, everything is going as planned."

Mahoro turned to her friend and took her hand. "I think its best to use this time to get further away from here."

"Do you want me to give you cover while you do that?" Rind's voice spoke as Mahoro turned to see the Valkyrie standing there watching the events unfold.

"I appreciate it very much." Mahoro nodded as she and 370 leaped from one rooftop to another, then Mahoro used her android abilities to take flight. Rind seemed impressed by this.

"You can fly as well?" Rind asked.

"I can only levitate, but I do have a flying craft called the Slypheed for that." Mahoro smiled at Rind as they then saw more Man Eaters came after them.

"I don't think these guys are going to let us off so easily today." Rind said, seeing the Man Eaters pursuing Mahoro and 370 in mid flight.

"And it seems we have no choice but to fight back to stop their pursuit." Mahoro said, still holding unto 370, who happened to be unconscious now.

"I got it." Rind said, clutching her battle axe. "This is will be over before you know it."

As she said that, Rind glided towards the Man Eater coming towards her, deflecting the gun fire it shot at her as she spun her body with her axe in hand, cutting the flying machination into a straight line clean in half. The other remaining Man Eater was then cleaved on its head unit as Mahoro grabbed a wing of the fallen robot Rind just destroyed and used it as a weapon to render it useless.

The damage it taken was so severe that the Man Eater exploded in mid-air. However Rind had summoned the power of her Angel to create a barrier to protect herself and Mahoro from the searing heat of the explosion. After it had died down, Rind and Mahoro were atop a roof nearby on a building as Mahoro rested the sleeping blonde girl then faced the battle goddess.

"I certainly appreciated the help today as well as the chance to fight by your side." Mahoro bowed to Rind.

"Think nothing of it, but I'm afraid that this may be the last time I will do battle alongside the famed combat android who thwarted the alien invasion of Earth many times over." Rind said. "From here on in, I have to act as an observer for the coming times ahead."

"I see...the day of mankind's fate in the balance has begun. Management sending their forces was certainly a sign of that." Mahoro said, as she picked up 370. "Soon, there will no longer be a time of peace."

"I sense the same." Rind said to Mahoro. "What will you do with the girl you rescued? She may say she is no longer part of Management, but you still want to protect her?"

"I will take her to my home, where she should be safe. Besides, I'm sure it is what she wants because she told me." Mahoro said with as smile.

"Then, I wish the two of you good fortunes then." Rind said as she turned around with a concerned look in her eyes. There were some new questions about today that bothered her and she needed confirmation on them.

"Only Kami-sama knows the answer to these and more." Rind said to herself as she used her powers to return to heaven, while close by, Mara was watching the scene.

"Seems that Rind is bothered by what has happened, but this may turn out to be the most intriguing development." Mara smirked. "For now, I'll leave the goody goody maid alone and focus on my other phases of my plans. I should be making a trip to the underworld to confirm that rumor I've heard about."

Mara had heard that there was a demon from space named Yuzuha that was able to clone Tenchi Masaki's genes and hers to form their daughter. After she was killed by Tenchi, she then heard that Washu was able to bring back Maukya to life through her technology. She wondered what she would be like now and would use this to her advantage.

"Maukya Masaki, I wonder how you will respond to the offer I have for you?" Mara said as she used her powers to teleport from the area.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's me." A male voice spoke, his voice old with age. From where he spoke, he was in a room filled with robotic appendages and limbs, while on a wall had photographs of Mahoro in various situations on it.

"Hello, is this Professor Mephlis? This is Felderance." The young boy's voice replied on the other end.

"Ah, 227. I've been waiting for you."

"Is this a good time, sir?" Felderance asked.

"I did say I was waiting for you, didn't I?" Mephlis asked. "So, how did it go?"

"The capture operation for 370 seems to have failed."

"'Seems to?' isn't specific enough! Give me details!"

"Right, V-1046R Mahoro showed up earlier than planned. The Man Eaters sent were taken out be her and you wouldn't believe who else was with her."

"What, another android?"

"No, this person was more powerful than anything I've seen." Felderance said. "She was hard to properly analyze, making her a mystery. But one thing is for sure, Mahoro's got some friends we don't know about."

"Minor details, I'm sure we'll find out about whose been helping her sooner or later and deal with them." Mephlis said. "In any case, my plan went well with no hitch. Give me the full report when you get back."

Putting down the receiver, Mephlis laughed to himself as he just gathered information on Mahoro Ando. "So, she's destroyed those machines he's so proud of. I can imagine the look on Professor's Canan face tomorrow."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"There are no visible wounds on her, but from the looks of it, there must be something wrong with her in general." Mahoro thought as she inspected the sleeping 370's body. She had begun her trek back to the Misato homestead with the girl on her back, as Suguru Misato met up with them.

"Mahoro!" Suguru shouted, as Mahoro saw him and showed him a side of her shoes.

"Look, Suguru, I broke my shoes." She smiled at him as 370 woke up. She rested her head as she was carried into the house and placed on a futon to be recovered as Mahoro and Suguru looked after her.

"Please, let me stay here in this house." 370 said in her sleep, as the android maid and teenage boy looked at each other, wondering what to do next.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was around the same time in the evening time at the temple where Belldandy, Keiichi and her Goddess sisters and now, Solid Snake lived. He was busy making himself useful around the house as he would be staying there for the time being. Even though he was a now a good friend and guest to them, he wouldn't want to burden them by not pitching in to help them time and again.

"But, Snake, there's certainly no need for you to do this." Belldandy said to him as he helped prepare the dinner table while she cooked.

"The most I can do while I'm staying here is share a helping hand." Snake smiled at her. "Besides, I know that you can't stay away from the kitchen until you're done, you're doing your best to make Keiichi happy when he gets back, so it's become something like a mission to you."

Belldandy chuckled slightly to this. "Yes, that is true. Everything I do for Keiichi, I make sure to put all of my feelings towards it so they can reach him, even if it comes to preparing meals for him and the same goes for everyone else as well."

"He's lucky to have someone like you watching out for him." Snake said.

"Yes, as you are with Urd." Belldandy said.

"I don't know about that, she's totally so different from some of the other women in my life." Snake said.

"Give Urd some time. She may be a bit immature when it comes to the matters of the heart, but she has spent enough time with me and Keiichi to learn how to express love the way you may want it, David." Belldandy spoke. "She just has trouble accepting her own feelings, being a goddess and a half demon at the same time is quite hard on her. She needs someone like you to be with her resolve that."

"You're right." Snake said. "I did tell her that I will help her in anyway, even if it means facing her mother herself."

"If I were you, I'd be cautious from now, David." Skuld said, entering the room with Banpei. "It would be crazy if you said upright to her that you've taken her daughter as your new girl now."

"I'm not that crazy to say that kind of thing to her, Skuld." Snake said. "Just showing her how much I care about Urd would be enough."

"Sigh…I give up, don't blame me if something happens because Hild tormented you for that." Skuld nodded.

"Not before I do something brash to you!" Snake said getting close to Skuld who started to back away from him.

"Onnee-samaaa! Help me! He's after me again!" Skuld hid behind her older sisters' apron. Snake let out a short laugh as they heard the door bell ring.

"Ah, he must be here!" Skuld said, suddenly dashing out of the room in time before Snake could catch her.

"What's she so happy about?" Snake asked.

"Sentaro-san must be here to pick her up." Belldandy said with a smile.

"Sentaro?" Snake asked.

"Sentaro Kawanishi, a boy around her human age. They've been together for a long while now." Belldandy said. "Around this time on certain evenings, they go bike riding together for ice cream."

(So, the little troublemaker's got someone for herself, huh? Good for her.) Snake grinned to himself. "I think I'll go introduce myself to him."

Snake left the kitchen and using his corner peek stealth technique, snuck around to peek in at the front door, where Skuld can be seen talking to a young boy with black, straight hair and slightly tanned skin. He couldn't see anything close by, but he remembered he had brought his Digital Camera with him, as he had been taking pictures earlier of the scenery of the temple (not to mention some pictures of Urd, by her consent, of course).

Taking it out, he slowly crept in the shadows and close to her as he heard Sentaro talking to her.

"Hey, Skuld, you didn't call earlier to say if it was alright that I can come over, is something wrong?"

"So, Skuld, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Snake said suddenly, causing her to leap up suddenly. Snake took the chance and snapped the picture as he got a clear shot of Skuld's face when she got jumped.

"Heh, priceless." Snake laughed out loud as Skuld pouted at him.

"You!" Skuld shouted, waving her hammer. "Why did you have to do that and ruin the mood?"

"Ah, so you're a romantic after all. I see there is hope in the future for you." Snake said, as Skuld felt flustered in front of Sentaro, realizing what she just said.

"Stupid! Stupid!" Skuld said as she began hitting her head with the hammer, as Sentaro began to stutter.

"Ah, mister…who are you?" Sentaro asked Snake.

"Oh, me? I'm…" Snake said, as Skuld answered for him.

"He's friend of onee-sama." Skuld suddenly said. "He's one of her foreign buddies from her tutor's homeland, far away from Japan."

"Ah, a foreigner is staying here with you guys?" Sentaro asked. "But he speaks good Japanese."

"Thanks for noticing, kid, I'm actually part Japanese." Snake said to him. "The name's Iroquois Pliskin, it's a pleasure to meet a friend of Skuld's."

"I'm Sentaro Kawanishi, it's nice to meet you too, Pliskin-san." Sentaro said, as Snake bowed to the boy. "Say, can I shake your hand?"

Snake nodded as Sentaro took his large hand and shook it as Snake observed the level of courtesy that Sentaro showed.

"I do hope you're being nice to Skuld, Sentaro." Snake said to her. "She's becoming like a new little sister to me and I hate it to see her cry because of a broken heart, or you got me to answer to, got it?"

"Sure, Pliskin-san. You can count on me, I won't make her cry. Ever." Sentaro said, as Skuld blushed to herself as he said this.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear." Snake said as he patted Sentaro's head.

"Well, we'd better get going before the sun sets." Sentaro said to Skuld, putting on his riding helmet. "Come on, Skuld, I'll race you as always."

"Alright, Sentaro." Skuld said, as she commanded Banpei to go into bike mode. Before she got on to Banpei, she felt Snake's hand rest on her shoulder.

"You're in good hands with this boy, Skuld." Snake said to her. "Just keep on treating him nice and I'm sure he will return the favor to you."

Skuld looked at Snake surprised as she thought to herself. (Was he shaking Sentaro's hand to see if he was the right one for me? I never would have guessed it…)

"Hmph…just don't ever try to take pictures of me without asking. You almost gave me a heart attack, you know." Skuld said, as she got on Banpei and rode to Sentaro's side. Then she turned around to smile at Snake. "But thanks anyway…for caring."

The two youngsters rode off and along the way, they passed a casually dressed Otacon, who managed to wave to Skuld and Sentaro as they rode off in a hurry.

"Guess Skuld must be in a hurry for a date that she didn't notice me…" He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, well, to be young and in love, I guess."

"Hal? What are you doing back here?" Snake asked, walking towards him. When they got close enough, they did a special handshake to greet themselves by as they gazed towards the scenic mountainous region that the temple was residing on. They can see the evening lights of Nekomi city coming to form.

"I'd figured I'd take a walk around the city to famarlise myself with the area." Otacon said. "Not to mention getting myself some new anime DVDs while I'm staying here. You wouldn't believe the stuff Japan has to offer when you look in the right places."

Snake noticed the big bag of 'goodies' Otacon had with him as well as he raised an eyebrow to some of the contents they were about.

"I noticed some of those are for eighteen and over…" Snake said. "Hal, I'm ashamed of you. I'd always thought you were more pure hearted than that."

"Well, at least it's better than ordering from the States when you get the real exotic stuff right here." Otacon said.

"I wonder what Megumi would say when she finds out you're into that kind of stuff." Snake said as he lit a cigarette. "In any case, I'm sure you came all the way here not just to tell me that you brought yourself some of those dirty movies, didn't you?"

"Of course not. I got a call from Mei Ling earlier today." Otacon said.

"She must have been mad as hell over what had happened." Snake said.

"Yeah, but she says things seems to have calmed down for now. Also, she said that she was going to meet the officials of the organization named VESPER in order for them to get a sponsorship ready for Philanthropy."

"VESPER…I think I recall that name from somewhere." Snake said, trying to remember.

"It was a popular name in the services in the United Nations during the eighties. They were responsible for holding the fort for Earth when the aliens started their war against humanity." Otacon said.

"Okay, now you've lost me there." Snake admitted. "Besides, I doubt I would have known all of that around the time, I would probably be still a kid then."

"Well, these guys at VESPER are willing to help us out. They were also in leagues with Big Boss at the time as well before he…well." Otacon said, before Snake spoke cutting in.

"Big Boss…my old man." Snake inhaled for several seconds as he spoke. "You think they will want us to work with them, given the current situation?"

"One can only hope for the best." Otacon said. "Whatever the case, we should hear from Mei Ling and see how things work out before something major happens."

Snake then remembered meeting Washu and Ryoko, he should tell Otacon about them knowing about him staying with the Goddess sisters and their own plans for helping him and Otacon. But for now, he would just say to him what Otacon may need to do soon.

"We may have to meet some new friends soon." Snake said. "Urd's old time ones, that is."

"Is that so?" Otacon asked.

"Yeah, two of them dropped by soon after you left to move in with Megumi yesterday." Snake said. "One of them is a crazy scientist I'm sure you'll like right away, though she claims she's smarter than you and Skuld put together."

"Really?" Otacon folded his arms. "Looks like we're all in for one hell of a ride, Snake."

"What the hell do you think is going to happen next?" Snake asked.

"I don't know either, Snake. This may be the start of something bigger than Metal Gear for the moment." Otacon said. "For now, all we can do is take in much of this peace for a little while longer until Philanthropy and supposedly VESPER calls in new orders for us."

Snake had to agree with Otacon. They had no idea where to start for answers, not to mention they felt that they are still in potential danger now that they are wanted all over the world. Still, they don't want to endanger their loved ones and their friends when the fighting starts. Will the two of them be enough to stop the menace known as the Patriots?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of space in the spaceship known as the Kamidake…

"Kiriko, did you get the message from Airi?" a slender woman with short cut blond hair, wearing a slender, skin tight uniform spoke to her comrade as she sat in her seat.

"What's the level of emergency, Amane?" Kiriko Masaki asked, her having long and straight brown hair. She wore the same kind of skin tight police uniform

"It's very urgent. We are to return to GP Headquarters as soon as possible." The woman named Amane Kaunaq said. Amane was formerly a top ranking supermodel who is now an accurate sharpshooter and tactician for the Galaxy Police. "She said something about what's going on with Earth right now, I thought you would have heard about it."

"What's going on Earth?" another woman next to them asked. She had dark and long braided hair with two imprinted crystals over her eyebrows.

"A tanker sunk near New York and they are pinning the blame of it on the hero of Shadow Moses, Solid Snake." Kiriko said. "It is now being one of the biggest terrorists acts in history. Surely you would have heard that name"

"Solid Snake?" Neju Melmas asked. She looked like a ten year old girl, but she's actually a two thousand powerful witch and political figure.

"Ah, you guys haven't read 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses' before." Kiriko said, sighing. "It's too much of a pain to explain it to everyone now. But it's a really cool book."

"What does this have to with us? Solid Snake isn't a space pirate." Amane said.

"True, but we can't ignore Airi's orders. Besides, she says both Seto and Yosho request us to be there." Kiriko said.

"Uh-oh. If Seto says for us to be there, it must be that important, not to mention Yosho as well, we're looking at a crisis at our hands." Ryoko Balta said.

"Where is Seina anyway?" Amane said. "Don't tell me the 'other four' are still chasing him around the ship?"

Just then, a young teenage boy with a crew cut hairstyle leaped into the room. He looked close to Tenchi, but he had a distinguishing mark, a small brown band aid to the upper left of this forehead.

"Made it in time." Seina Yamada said, heaving. He was wearing the GP captain's uniform, but it seems to be torn and clawed up.

"Where were you?" Kiriko asked him.

"Mitoto just couldn't get enough of the Mizuki core and didn't want to leave." Seina said, rubbing his head. "Not to mention I was running away from the Renza girls, but I seem to have lost them."

"In any case, we'd better get back to GP Headquarters now. Airi and Seto are waiting for us." Amane said.

"I heard the details, so this must be really important for us to be called back to HQ. Okay. Fuku, prepare the hyperspace jump."

"Mee-eeoow!" Fuku, Ryo-oh-ki's sister cabbit mellowed as it powered up to depart from its current location into space. Seto's intentions for Seina and his crew were not yet clear, but they knew they were going to be part of something big soon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: I do hope you're all satisfied with this update, as I had to include a lot of new ideas and interactions at the last minute during the process of this chapter so you guys can get even more eager as to who else is going to appear in this story, not to mention what will happen next. I've also been getting some inspiration from watching a few of the new episodes of the Oh My Goddess second season tv series, any of you seen those yet? If not, check it out on You Tube, the sweet catchy intro alone promises appearances of the rest of the OMG characters that weren't in the first season, so we couldn't have asked for a better timing to see them (as well seeing some of the stories revolve around them) animated.

Also, I couldn't help but not use the Photograph Mode from MGS2: Substance for Snake to spy in on Skuld near the end of this chapter. That is one of my personal favorite of the game modes (second to the Variety and VR Missions modes.)

Just then, the three famed bed warmers of Hanauyko Maid Team: La Verite, Sango, Melon, and Lemon enter in their coloured maid outfits.

Lemon: Shardclaw-sama, we're so happy that you decided to include us into this story of yours.

Sango: Yes, we must give you a reward for making such a wonderful decision to make this story even better, especially even going through lengths by giving hints of us in this chapter.

Shardclaw: I don't mind the reward as long all of your maid friends don't team up on me like they did the first time, as well not to mention during last Christmas season, I'm still recovering from the limiter release of all those maids, you know.

All three of them: Limiter override!

Shardclaw training the Stunner Rifle everywhere around him: Huh? Who? Where? Which girl? Which one?

Melon: Guess he still is 'traumatized' about 'that time', huh?

Lemon: Any threat which relates to him being outnumbered by a numerous staff of hot and cute maids should keep him on edge any day.

Shardclaw: You girls and your false alarms. Anyway, here's what will happen in the next chapter: You'd think I've forgotten about the bad guys of MGS? Don't worry; we'll see what Ocelot (and Olga) has been up to since that tanker sunk, not to mention Dead Cell's own plans into this, as we'll meet the crazed terrorists who will later take over the Big Shell in two years. And if you thought that sounded scary, wait until you hear what plans the Management has started brewing up. All that plus several more surprises to your heart's content in the next chapter, so see you all then.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	8. Storm Warning

Disclaimer: As usual, I only own this story and nothing else related to it. That means the lawyers should stay away from me a little while longer since I don't have anything to give them.

ShardclawK: Sorry again for another long wait, but here I am once again to stun the masses with my crazy crossover skills. Everyone reading this update is in for a lot of surprises that can only be see in crossover fanfiction, especially if written by yours truly. This chapter is going to be more like what's been going on since our old buddy, Solid Snake landed in hot water thanks to the Patriots, as instead of focusing on him this update, we will now see appearances of some of the characters from three of the anime series I've included into this crossover and how they will relate later in this story.

However, I must warn you that when I said some, I do mean it, as it is impossible to just have everyone show up in one chapter alone, so I plan to have this sort of thing happening in phases during the course of the story, not to mention they will be at random surprise choices, so you just have to cross fingers and figure out who is going to be featured in this update would be among your favorites. I will include some helpful author's notes while introducing some of these as well to the new readers who are unfamiliar with them. And I did say we'd follow up on what the villains are up to, so we'll be checking in on those too. In other words, you're in for some really cool stuff ahead that will blow you away. Enjoy this really uber cool update.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 7: Storm Warning

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside a large holding room at a disclosed weapons facility, at the coast of Hudson, Olga Gurlukovich was wearing only a loose t-shirt to cover the jeans of her battle uniform and had a very tired look on her face. In another room, only a small group of her Russian comrades who were all tired and weary were there as well. She was still at a loss over the tragic death of her father, Sergei when the tanker sank. She was brought in on land that same rainy night when the travesty occurred with a number of survivors from both the Marines and Russians. She couldn't clearly recall as who rescued her, but she knew one thing was certain…

Solid Snake is responsible for everything that has happened and she vows to make sure he will pay back dearly for ruining her father's dreams.

(You will pay for everything you have taken from me, Snake! May you hope that I never find your rotting corpse!) Olga thought in silence as she pounded the wall next to her.

"Take it easy, Olga dear…Sergei did tell me that you're going to be a mother soon, we can't allow you to have a miscarriage at a time like this." A Russian male voice spoke from behind as Revolver Ocelot stepped in next to her. Olga simply gritted her teeth as she stepped closer to him.

"Damn you, Ocelot! Where were you when my father needed you the most?" Olga exclaimed as Ocelot shrugged his shoulders.

"My dear, you have to understand that I did everything I could for your father when he needed me, but Snake got to him first before I could do anything." Ocelot said as he patted her shoulder. "In any case, we managed to retrieve RAY and that was just the start of the plan, so you need not to continue mourning for your father. I'm certain his death was necessary for carrying out the plan successfully."

Olga shook her head in disbelief as she pushed Ocelot away. "My father warned me about you. I will be keeping my eye on you from now on so you don't lead my men into any of your devious plots, do you hear me?"

"Now, now, Olga, you shouldn't be angry at Ocelot for what has happened. The real one to blame is Solid Snake." Solidus Snake's voice spoke as he entered the room with several other people behind him.

"Ah, Solidus. I see you've brought your friends with you as well." Ocelot spoke as he noted a tall, slender woman with light brown skin and long, curly blonde hair staring at him with red eyes. She appears to have been crying prior coming here. Another of the people with her was a tall man with palish white skin, black long hair and a mustache. He wore an open brown coat that held knives inside them. Another of the people with him was a fat, burly bald man.

"Yes, Dead Cell is here to settle this matter after their leader has fallen." Solidus said as he walked over to the woman. "Helena Jackson here happens to be daughter of the late Major."

"Oh, really?" Ocelot asked with a small grin. "I offer you my greatest condolences, miss Jackson."

"Hmph." Helena said as she turned her head and looked at Solidus. "Are we really supposed to put our trust in this man after what has happened?"

"Queen, we have no other choice." The pale man spoke in a perfect Scandinavian accent as he eyed Ocelot. "Without Dolph to lead us from now on, we've lost faith in the government we serve. The only way we can have our justice for what has happened is to show the fools who have destroyed our trust that we are not to be trifled with."

"Yes, that is correct, Vamp." Solidus said as he walked towards Olga. "I'm certain this is something you can relate to, Olga. Solid Snake may be dead, but we still have our enemy to dispose of. All the while, our goal is near completion. What we need from you and your men is the manpower for taking control of one of the Patriot's secret weapons."

Olga shook her head as she stared at Solidus a bit. "My father would have never wanted this. All he wanted was to get mother Russia to return the way it used to be when he was young. What you're proposing to do cannot happen so easily."

"We will work our way eventually to a point that we shall be truly be feared, Olga." Solidus said. "My Dead Cell group will begin striking out at the hearts of these feeble politicians and show them that there's another force at work who wants to control all of our fates. Don't you see, what we're doing is for man's greater good."

"We will assure you that your men will be taken care of, Olga. As well as your child when its time for its birth." Ocelot said. "Let your forces and ours join and we'll be an unstoppable force together."

Olga sighed as she rubbed her head and hesitantly nodded, giving Ocelot a serious look. "Alright, I'll have a talk with my men about this. But, in the case that you try anything, I will be ready to stop you, Ocelot, do you hear me?"

"Yes, I understand clearly, Olga dear." Ocelot said as he turned around. "Solidus, we should use this time for Dead Cell and Olga to get to know one another, I have some matters to discuss with you."

Solidus silently left the room with Ocelot as Olga stared in silence at the Dead Cell group. Soon she will be allying with this group along with her men and she probably didn't like the idea so much. But for the sake of avenging her fallen comrades and father, she has to carry on the flame of leading her family's mercenary group.

Meanwhile, just outside the room, Ocelot has begun to speak to Solidus about the plans for the future.

"So, how goes the start up for the RAY mass production, Ocelot?" Solidus asked.

"Production went underway as soon it returned to Arsenal Gear, King." Ocelot replied.

"And with the data you supplied from the prototype REX that was constructed beneath Nekomi, it should be no trouble that they are equipped with anti-matter defenses that would be useful later on." Solidus said.

"Yes, the construction of the units will also fully undergo the experiment test data I retrieved regarding the ability to use RAY's defense mechanisms against certain elemental type attacks. The test data from the information I also gathered from Mara and the Goddess sisters will keep the attack program within the RAY's module system fully active of anything they would throw at."

"Very good, soon an army of Metal Gear RAY units that are impregnable against them will be ours to control." Solidus spoke with a smile, before it turned into a serious frown. "However, I've also been hearing word about Management as well…they seem to have picked up some tricks of their own."

"Ah, yes. That old crock, Bernard has been busy too, I see." Ocelot said with a coy grin. "According to the information I've picked up just a few days ago, they seem to be working on some experimental weapons themselves."

"You're not referring to those combat androids I've been hearing so much about?" Solidus asked.

"That and even more, sir. Those Management fools may have some really outdated technology, but I heard the androids they make are not to be underestimated." Ocelot said. "I got a report that one of them defected from the organization a while back. I'm having that matter looked into right now."

"In any case, Management would soon be part of this as well. They are no different from the Patriots if they intend on stopping this cause for humanity to form an alliance with SAINT." Solidus said. "If they do, everything I've worked for will be for naught. The Management is nothing but a hindrance to our plans to fully liberate America and even the world from their grasps from the Patriots. We will surely not let them have their way forever, Ocelot."

"Of course, King. Only your brute tactics will bring down the forces that intend to stand in our way." Ocelot spoke.

"Come on then, Ocelot. We have a long preparation for the revolution to begin." Solidus said as Ocelot began to think to himself slyly.

(Yes, it may be true that Management may be in the way for now, so that's why I have made sure as a loyal spy for the Patriots, to have made sure that my own plans don't get ruined later.) Ocelot said. Just then, his phone rang as he picked it from his coat and spoke to the other end privately.

"Yes…it is me, Adamska." Ocelot said to the other end. "Have you already retrieved the cyborg pirate successfully? Ah, sounds like news to me, very excellent then. I take it that resurrecting him was no problem for ones with such powers as yours. I have already fulfilled my role for now over here, Solidus has brought my plan as well as Olga's. Yes, I'll be sure to keep you informed of the developments from this end. I will keep in touch as always."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Okay, Airi, what's the big emergency?" Amane Kaunaq asked first as she and her fellow crewmembers of the Kamidake entered her office. In the room was Airi Magma Masaki, Yosho's first wife who had green hair that was pulled back into a single fold and was wearing a red and bodysuit. Her desk was always cluttered with piles of reports that needed filing out by her own hands. Standing next to her was Mikami Kuramitsu, Mihoshi's mother and is a very important figure within the Galaxy Police.

"Sorry to have called all of you at such a time, but this is pretty urgent we thought this can use your attention. As a matter of fact, it's so urgent that lady Seto has arranged Yosho and Washu to join us on this meeting today as well." Airi spoke calmly as she folded her hands over her mouth.

As if on cue, the door behind them opened as a tall woman wearing an elegant dress with lime coloured hair and was holding a fan walked in with two familiar people. One of them was Washu Hakubi, while the other was Yosho Masaki Jurai. He had used his powers to make himself look as youthful as he was years ago. They were both wearing traditional Jurian training.

"Ah, right on time, Seto." Mikami said. "Seina and his crew have only just arrived."

"Hey, Seina, long time no see." Washu waved to Seina and his group. "How's the Mizuki core been treating all of you?"

"It's really doing a good job for the Kamidake, Miss Washu." Seina said. "But, really, I'm sure that is not why we're here to talk about, isn't it?"

"Of course not, Seina. We're here on other important matters, so the pleasantries can wait for later." Washu said as she cleared her throat and spoke seriously. "Now, I'm sure by now everyone one of you has been hearing of the recent big news lately regarding one of Earth's greatest warriors, the man called Solid Snake, am I right?"

"Yeah, who wouldn't have heard about him, Washu?" Kiriko asked. "But is this thing about him sinking the tanker really true?"

"Not entirely." Washu spoke. "It seems Solid Snake was set up by some very powerful forces ruling Earth right now. I've done some vague research when I found out that he was shacking up with Urd and Belldandy on Earth."

"What did you say, Washu?" Kiriko stepped forward, shaken as she heard this. "You said Snake is still alive and that he's living with none other with the Goddess sisters?"

"Yeah, Ryoko and I both found our about this ourselves. It really was quite the surprise to us." Washu said.

"You know the Goddess sisters, Kiriko?" Seina asked.

"Not personally, but I remember meeting Tenchi a couple of times in the past and he's said there are really good people whenever he visited them. Sasami happens to be a close friend of the youngest out of them, while Ryoko, the original space pirate, has known the eldest for a long time now." Kiriko replied. "The second eldest is actually living with a boyfriend who happens to be a human."

"Wow. But still, how does the Goddess sisters know Snake and even took him in?" Amane asked.

"Hold on, guys, you only heard the gist of the story." Washu spoke. "Snake happened to have helped them out some time ago and they actually returning the favor by letting him stay with them for awhile. Also, it would come to a surprise to everyone that Urd has hooked herself up with Snake. They make quite a pair together."

"What? Solid Snake and Urd are hooked up?" Kiriko exclaimed as Seto placed a hand over her mouth as it turned into a mischievous grin.

"My, my, my." Seto simply said. "That's quite a scandalous hook up, I must say."

"So how come this bothers you so much?" Ryoko Balta asked as Yosho began to speak now.

"Well, I have known for a fact that these shadow rulers have been around since post World War 1, just some time when I first landed on Earth after chasing Ryoko the space pirate there." Yosho spoke. "According to the reports Washu have come across, they have been pretty active throughout history in controlling most of the world's governments while being concealed from the public."

"That's right, Lord Yosho. You've been involved in the military arts for a long time, so this must concern you greatly." Amane said as Yosho nodded his head.

"Yes, and this frightens me greatly as well. These shadow rulers are actually the ones responsible for putting Solid Snake in this predicament. They are but only the American branch of the rulers responsible for this." Yosho spoke.

"They call themselves the Patriots, or the La-li-lu-le-lo." Washu simply said. "I don't know what is it that they are trying to gain by framing one of the world's greatest heroes by sinking a tanker, but from what Snake told me and Washu, a new secret weapon was taken the same time it went underwater as he was going on a recon mission to gain information on it."

"A secret weapon?" Seina asked.

"Yes, the new Metal Gear prototype." Washu said, causing everyone to stare wide eyed. "It was developed by the same Marines who some of them sank along with it. They called it RAY."

"They were able to build a new Metal Gear that fast after REX?" Kiriko asked suddenly.

"Hey, there are other types of Metal Gear being developed as we speak, Kiriko. You shouldn't act so surprised about it." Washu said simply.

"But still…to have a new kind of Metal Gear running around on Earth at a time like this…who will be around to stop it if it starts launching nukes to any place on the planet?" Kiriko asked. "Solid Snake may still be alive, but he's been branded a dead criminal now. It's not like he can go back out on the open to stop this new Metal Gear now, isn't it?"

"Yes, this is as much the world knows right now." Airi said. "Us, on the other hand…we can use this knowledge about him being alive to our advantage."

"We've found recently that Snake's old time enemy has acquired the data and technology to be used on the new Metal Gear prototypes that can fend themselves against Goddess type powers." Seto said seriously. "Can you imagine what would happen if that was taken a few steps further and it would be soon be used against Jurian energy as well?"

"Are you saying that soon Metal Gear would be a threat that can be used against not against the heavens, but in space as well?" Neju asked in shock.

"I'm afraid so, from all the data I've deducted so far. Even the data shocked me with the possibilities that can occur." Washu said as she shook her head. "The Patriots are capable of anything after all. To think man has taken science this far before their time…it's really a frightening day and age we live in."

"So, we need you to help us to gain Solid Snake's trust in this matter, Seina Yamada." Seto spoke.

"Why do I have to be the one?" Seina asked.

"Well, so far, you are the most trusted among the galaxy when it comes to alliances. For having gaining the help of the famous Solid Snake, it should be no problem for you, Seina." Seto said with a grin. "Besides, we are busy enough trying to overlook this matter of SAINT showing up around Earth more often before the Patriots' rivals, the Management take control of the scenario as well."

"The Management has been in war with the Patriots as long as man has existed, fighting a private war as to who would fully control the Earth with their ethics." Yosho spoke. "They have recently begun to make their move against VESPER and SAINT. The last thing we need is them having to blow this thing out of proportion because of Management's greedy ambitions."

"VESPER's the Earth organization that specializes in the defense of that planet from the SAINT invaders about twenty years ago, right?" Amane asked.

"You know about them?" Ryoko Balta asked.

"Yeah, my parents did some meetings with their commanders in the past while I was still in the modeling business." Amane replied. "Meetings for arranged marriages, that is…but I turned them all down."

"That is so like you to do that, Amane." Kiriko said.

"So, what you need us to do is get more dirt on Solid's Snake situation and to help him out, right?" Seina asked. "Sounds simple enough, at least I'll get a chance to be home once more after all that's happened."

"Each of you of the Kamidake crew will be awarded handsomely for this assignment." Airi said. "One of them of the incentives is a double increase to your current paycheck, plus a two weeks vacation at the best hot springs resort in Jurai."

"You're kidding." Kiriko asked. "I thought the GP is going through some financial problems."

"Not any more for the time being." Mikami said. "After Seina's wedding ceremony went into an upheaval and crashed, the Tennan group offered the compensation money we needed to make up for everything."

"Not to mention, a representative of SAINT who wished to remain anonymous for the time being personally assigned the GP for this with a large amount of information we should know about the Management." Seto said. "At current, the person said was that it was a very close friend to the Leader of VESPER, as well to the Goddess Tokimi, so this assignment is enough to send anyone who receives it over the moon in joy."

"Then we'll take it without question, Lady Seto. We'll be glad to help out Earth's alliances in any way."

"I'm glad to hear it, Seina. I know you won't fail me on this one, you always bring exceptional results." Seto said as she looked at Yosho. "But, Yosho, tell me something…how come this matter have you so worried than usual? It is not like you to be so concerned for a man like Solid Snake."

"Lady Seto, if you must, I'm only doing this because he reminds me…of an old student of mine from years ago. I just don't want him to fall into a dark path as he did." Yosho said as his voiced choked up along the way. Washu noticed how distressed he looked and remained silent, as she knew Yosho must be looking at this differently than anyone else was.

"So, is that all you wanted to tell us, Airi?" Kiriko asked as Airi shook her head. She still has much to tell them before they leave for their assignment.

"Actually, there is another matter that needs to be discussed at this time, which is why you all were brought here today." Airi said with a straight voice as she looked at everyone. "About an estimated of two hours ago, Terrant Shank had been broken out of the Galaxy federal prison with the aid of some mysterious accomplices."

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room, excepting Seto, exclaimed. Amane slammed her fist on the desk as she spoke.

"Why the hell you didn't tell us in the first place, Airi?" Amane growled. "Do you remember how vicious that man is?"

"I haven't forgotten, officer Kaunaq." Airi replied.

"You said he was broken out, wasn't he?" Seina asked, remembering well his last encounter with the space pirate who ended up becoming a cyborg. "What about the accomplices helping him?"

"Yes, do we have anything on them?" Amane asked.

"No one we can verify from the data banks we have." Mikami said. "It appears these are outsiders who happened to have originated from Earth."

Seina looked at his all female crew in silence as it bothered him as they said this.

"Who from Earth would want Terrant freed and what for?" Kiriko asked.

"It could be the Patriots doing, but I doubt they are capable of space or time travel as yet." Ryoko Balta spoke.

"True, but we are dealing with one faction of Earth's most powerful shadow rulers here. Nothing could be possible for them." Neju said simply. "Considering the amount of bad guys currently residing on Earth at the moment, they are probably more people capable of the sciences that would help them gain access to our police headquarters."

"I knew this wasn't going to be as easy as we thought." Amane said folding her arms. "So far, we all know nothing, am I right?"

"That is the mystery at the moment, which is why you're all being assigned to stay on Earth for a while and investigate the events that led to Shank's escape." Seto spoke. "If Washu says is true about this single event surrounding the man named Solid Snake is going to through everything we know off balance, we can have quite the crisis on our hands."

"Well, it seems we have to set up shop with Tenchi and the others and see what we can come up with." Seina said. "Maybe I can use this time to see my family again."

"Speaking of meetings, use the time you have to meet and listen to Solid Snake's story when you do meet him, Seina." Airi said. "Let him know that he has the assistance of the Galaxy Police waiting to guide him in clearing his name."

"Yes, from the looks of things, we're going to have quite the drama because of one legendary soldier from Earth who has been taking down nuclear battle tanks for years now." Seto said with a wicked, creepy grin.

"I have to check up on Belldandy to see how he's going and I'll bring Tenchi and a few others with me to visit him when its time, Seto." Washu said.

"How lucky of you to get the chance to see him twice before we do, Washu." Airi said with a grin. "Seina, you and the crew may as well get ready for departure soon."

"Yes, sir. We're on our way." Seina and the females with him saluted as they then left the room along as Washu used a teleporter she had to leave the room. Airi and Mikami looked at Seto before they spoke.

"Lady Seto, is it really wise for the Galaxy Police to be involved with the Earths' matters?" Airi asked.

"You heard Washu before…this thing is so serious that our good friends, the Goddess sisters are even distressed about it." Seto said, fanning herself. "What about that recent tussle Rind had with that rival shadow organization, Management, hmm? Was that an overlooked fact we didn't take to heart?"

"I understand your concern for this. We really don't want the Emperor of Jurai getting upset about the Philosophers and now Management trying to take over the Earth by finding out about this. That planet is lying under his jurisdiction as long as he breathes after all." Mikami said.

"And in him knowing the Earth is in peril because of man's foolish ambitions, this can start a nasty intergalactic war." Airi said. "The only thing which can hold that planet's peace together for awhile longer is SAINT's alliance with the humans soon."

"That is why it is important we must aid Seina and his crew to stop anything that will prevent making this goal happen." Seto said. "Starting with the assistance of Solid Snake, this will lead to a bold future not just for humanity's future, but the safety of the galaxy for years to come."

"I hope you're right about that, Seto." Mikami said. "Besides, it would be fun to see everyone we know get involved in this little drama, as I'm sure you will too."

Seto simply laughed evilly to this, knowing well this was one drama she can't afford to miss out on.

Meanwhile outside, Seina and his crew were conversing about what just transpired in the meeting. Something very big was bound to happen and they are going to be amidst of it all soon.

"It seems Airi was concerned with what will happen between now and when we will start this mission." Amane asked.

"If you think about it, this would be the best available option to prevent the Emperor from blowing a portion of Earth away after he hears what the Patriots have been up to." Kiriko said. "It's just as Washu said…man's worst enemy is actually man."

"This really is a big assignment, guys. Bigger than anything else we've taken on in the past." Seina said. "So let's do our best as always to help out as well."

"Okay, you can count on us, Seina." Neju smiled at him as Fuku meowed happily.

"Hey, Kiriko…you think with all that has happened, Mizuho would have known about this?" Amane asked her partner.

"Beats me…it's been awhile since I heard from her, you know." Kiriko replied. "I just hope she hasn't forgotten her mission on observing the Earth. I wonder what she is up to now."

"Yeah, we have to surprise her with a visit one of these days when we get there." Amane said.

"Mizuho?" Seina asked. Neju and Ryoko Balta were curious to find out who this Mizhuo Kiriko mentioned was.

"Oh, we're just talking about Mizuho Kazami. She's an old friend of ours who went into the academy with us during our teen years." Amane said. "Her father was even from Earth and he ventured into space to study Mars, but he died some years before she graduated because of the wounds he sustained when his spacecraft was stranded in space."

"I think I know now of what you're talking about, I heard of that story along time ago. Wasn't he rescued by an alien who took care of him and later got married with him?" Neju asked. "I heard it caused quite a scandal."

"Yes, at the time, romance between humans and aliens were prohibited. I think she got married secretly and when Mizuho joined the federation, it was under special privileges under her mother's help that got her in. It gained Mizuho a lot of respect within the federation, guess that was how she easily landed that undercover job on Earth." Kiriko said. "A lot must have happened to her between then and now, so I hope she still at least remembers us."

"Now with all the news of the SAINT aliens showing up more often than before, looks like we got one hell of a case on our hands." Amane smacked her fists.

"You said it." Ryoko Balta said. "So much weird things are happening at once, I won't be surprised if something even much more out of the ordinary will happen during the course of the time we'll be investigating Earth."

"Stranger things have happened." Seina said as he rubbed his head. "I was appointed for the next crown emperor of Jurai after Tenchi after all."

"Well, we have our jobs to watch over you since we can't have anything happening to our prince now, can't we?" Amane asked with a smile. "Especially if it means to protect you from the likes of them…"

Four other women dressed in Galaxy Police uniform with differently coloured hairstyles and skin tones approached the crew with vexed looks on their faces. Kiriko, Ryoko Balta and Neju fixed their stares on their fellow crew who went by the names of Gyokuren, Hakuren, Karen and Suiren.

"Hmph, seems we'll be stuck with each other for the ride." Kiriko said to the Renza emissaries. "Just don't pull anything on our Seina or else you'll be missing a limb or two."

"Watch your tongue, girl. You really don't want to start the fighting when you know you don't really have the guts to be forward like us." The only red haired Renza girl named Karen said as she winked at Seina.

"That does it! I've had enough of you and your trampy ways! Let's go, right here and now!" Amane was about to leap at the Renza girls before Neju held her back.

"Please, Amane! Save it for the mission!" Neju cried out as Seina scratched his head among the bickering of the girls.

(I do hope the pay would be worth the trouble this time around. I think I surely need a long vacation after this mission is over.) Seina said as he looked down at planet Earth.

(Solid Snake, huh? I wonder what kind of guy he really is?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"ACHOO!" Solid Snake sneezed loudly as he was having dinner with Urd, Belldandy, Skuld and Keiichi back at the Goddess' home.

"David, are you okay?" Urd asked as she wiped his nose for him with a tissue. "You've been sneezing like crazy for the past few minutes now."

"I must be coming down with something again…" Snake grumbled as Skuld chuckled to herself.

"Or someone must be talking about you a lot." Skuld said as Snake got up to chase after her.

"You're asking for it, kid." Snake grinned as Skuld began to hide behind Belldandy from him, giggling loudly.

"Oh, my. How lively this place has become." Belldandy simply said as she sipped her tea while Skuld gets chased by Snake.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_(A/N: I've finally managed to recently watch the first season of Hanaukyo Maid Team a while back and I've decided to include some references from that anime for this story as well, but that was long after I saw its remake, La Verite which I liked much better as one of the reasons being of Mariel's altered, mature appearance which suited her the best, not to mention the remake fleshed out the characters even more better in terms of their backgrounds and personalities. So I'll be using the remake versions of everyone from that anime instead in this story.)_

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the countryside area of Hiryu city within the halls of the large Hanauyko mansion estate…

Young Taro Hanaukyo had just finished his morning duty in the office he privately owns, filing several reports. His desk was piled with pages taller than him as he had quite a day ahead of him. Even at his age, he is still responsible for keeping things in check with the inherited fortune as he was still attending high school.

"It never ends." Taro mumbled as he had to work on the desk for some hours now before lunch. Before he got to work, he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Taro-sama, can I come in?" a gentle toned voice of a woman spoke from behind as Taro replied with a smile, since he had no trouble realizing who it was.

"Ah, yes. You can come on in, Mariel." Taro said, as the door opened to reveal a tall and beautiful maid with long flowing silvery blue hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a maid's dress of blue and a white apron and was holding on to a tray with some teacups and cool drinks. "Here are the drinks, just as you wanted, Taro-sama."

"Thank you, Mariel. I'm famished with all this paperwork." Taro said as he stood up to stretch himself. He had his short dark black hair combed back today and was wearing a plain white dress shirt with a blue bow tie and long khaki pants. He was short stature compared to most of the maids living in the mansion, even shorter than Mariel herself, but it didn't matter for him, since he had grown comfortable being with her since he met her a while back.

"It must be grueling work, Taro-sama." Mariel said as she offered him some iced tea with a lemon on the glass.

"It's really nothing, Mariel. With all that has happened recently, someone's got to keep this mansion in check." Taro said as he sipped the tea, now feeling refreshed. "Besides, I won't anyone else come to take you away from us ever again, I promised myself that I can't let you be manipulated like that."

"Taro-sama, I see that incident still bothers you…" Mariel said sadly, before she quickly smiled at him. "But I'm much better than I was before, Taro-sama. I was happy you and everyone else cared for me so much to go through the lengths to help me."

"And it will keep being that way, I can assure you, Mariel." Taro said as he touched her hand gently. Mariel's face reddened slightly as she never thought of Taro being this bold before as she and Taro remember it too well, when an enemy maid team was sent in to capture Mariel and it was revealed that she was born for the sole purpose of serving the future heir of the Hanaukyo fortune some time ago. Taro mustered what strength he had and with the help of Konoe Tsurugi, Yashima Sanae, Ryuka Jihoh, Ikuyo Suzuki and Cynthia, they were able to rescue Mariel from Konoe's rival and sister's own maid team. Mariel has recovered better than everyone else hoped for and is slowly gaining a will of her own every day. Yet still, she serves Taro with all her heart and devotion and she now knows of the feelings he has for her.

Before the two could get involved in a romantic moment, a loud cry was heard throughout the hallways of Hanaukyo mansion as a woman's scream rang out.

"No! This cannot be happening!" the voice screamed out, shaking some windows along the way.

"What was that?" Mariel said, startled. "Wasn't that Ryuka's voice just now?"

"There's no doubt, I know of her screams well enough now, so it's hers alright." Taro said as he stood up. "She's been like this yesterday for some reason and not even some of the maids go to her from now on."

"We might as well go and check on her, I'm worried about her." Mariel said as she stood up. "Are you coming, Taro-sama?"

Just then, the phone in his office rang and as Taro looked at the caller signal, he knew he couldn't refuse this one now. "Ah, I wish I could, but I really have to take this call now, Mariel. Maybe later after I'm done here, I'll join up with you guys and see what's going on with Ryuka."

"If you will excuse me then, Taro-sama, I will take my leave." Mariel said as she bowed to her master who nodded at her as she left the room. Taro then sat on his chair then picked up the receiver to speak to the other end privately.

"Ah, good morning, Leader-san. It's good to hear from you." Taro simply said as he leaned back on his high chair. "It's been awhile since our last meeting at VESPER headquarters, hasn't it?"

Loudly and clearly, Leader's voice replied on the other end. "It certainly has, Taro-san. I had hoped that we could discuss some business proposals that you would most be interested in that would benefit your family name for years to come."

"Proposals, you say?" Taro asked simply as he then heard Ryuka's loud wailing continue from outside his office.

"What is the matter, Taro? Who was that crying?" Leader asked Taro.

"Oh, that was just Ryuka. She's been like that since yesterday after she watched the news." Taro said explaining to Leader what's been happening at his mansion.

"Hmm, let me guess. This news has something to do with the incident of that terrorist attack involving Solid Snake and that tanker, am I correct?" Leader asked.

"You guess right, but how did you know?" Taro asked.

"Taro-san, you know I'm friends with Ryuka's family as well and I know her well enough to claim that she is a fanatic of the Legend himself, so this must have struck a nerve in her." Leader said as Taro sighed.

"Yeah, I do remember she's a war nut, but I never thought she took this thing with Solid Snake that seriously." Taro said.

"In any case, Taro-san, you will be pleased to hear the news I have for you, since the proposal certainly involves that man himself." Leader said, causing Taro to scratch his head.

"Leader-san, what are you saying?" Taro asked. "Didn't he die when the tanker sank and was branded a world wide criminal for that?"

"No, Solid Snake is still alive and in currently in hiding in Japan." Leader said to him as Taro stood up suddenly.

"You're kidding, right, Leader-san?" Taro asked.

"One of his associates from the anti Metal Gear group, Philanthropy visited our headquarters recently and confirmed this. We have reason to believe that Management has framed Snake in this." Leader said as Taro scratched his head.

"Philanthropy…I've heard about them just recently, but I thought Solid Snake retired after that Shadow Moses mission which made him famous."

"He's still very much active in the war against Metal Gear and now powerful enemies want to stop his movements once and for all." Leader spoke. "He and his partner, Hal Emmerich just happens to be both alive and well and both are hiding at a former accomplice where they were involved in a mission about a year ago at Nekomi city."

"I've also read about that report too, wasn't it the botched terrorist takeover at their university?" Taro asked.

"Yes, the same one. They happen to have made some friends there and that is where they are staying at the moment." Leader said as he continued. "However, if the chances are that Management decides to make a movement…"

"I see where you're getting. Especially with all the SAINT appearances lately, things are starting to get serious soon." Taro said as he then thought to himself. (And the chances are that they may be next in coming after Mariel too. I can't let that happen to her or any of my friends here again…)

"Okay, Leader, what was this proposal that you wanted to discuss?" Taro asked first.

"I'm glad you're seeing the possibility of the situation, Taro-san. For a young boy, your fast thinking is what we could use at this time." Leader said. "I've already offered Philanthropy a stay at your mansion to continue carrying out their missions while maintaining a low profile from the enemy's sights."

"Well, since we are already business associates thanks from the stories you told me about you and my grandfather being partners once a long time ago, so it should be no problem if the famous Solid Snake is staying with us as long I can do something to return the favor for VESPER helping us keep in touch of the Management's activities." Taro smiled to this. "But, have you already collaborated with Philanthropy as yet, Leader-san?"

"Not as yet, Solid Snake's final decision will be the starting point of this alliance that will combat the Management forces in the future." Leader said.

"Well, I do hope for everyone's sakes he makes his mind up to help VESPER, as I'm willing to help as well." Taro said. "And I'm sure everyone here at the mansion will feel the same way in helping Solid Snake in this, most of the maids like Ryuka are actually mourning for the Legend."

"I can imagine the looks on their faces when they find out that he is still alive and was framed by the enemy, Taro-san. You are very lucky to have such an army to assist you." Leader said.

"Please, anything I can do to help. We do want to use whatever help we can to stop the Management soon before they cause anything to harm the alliance of mankind and SAINT soon." Taro said as his tone got more serious now. "Also…I may be wrong about this, but you're actually worried about Mahoro and Suguru too, aren't you?"

Leader let out a long sigh as he spoke. "Yes, unfortunately, those two will be intertwined into the battle between Management, VESPER and SAINT. No matter how hard I will try, their fates have already been cursed with sadness and pain. I have already made an oath on my daughter's and son in law's graves that their own child will not suffer such a thing. With Solid Snake's assistance, we may at least have a chance against them."

"I can't blame you for seeing this coming and preparing for the worst by asking for the help of Solid Snake, Leader-san." Taro said. "Don't worry about it too much tough, I'm sure everything will work out for the best. Just be sure to keep me in touch about the details while I will inform everyone here about what we talked about."

"Thank you so much for accepting this offer, Taro-san." Leader said to Taro. "Well, wish everyone at the mansion well for me and I'll contact you again in two days with word on the progress of the alliance between VESPER and Philanthropy."

"Yes. We'll keep in touch then, Leader-san." Taro said as he sighed, hanging the phone up. "Man, everyone will be in for a surprise when I tell them about this."

Standing up firmly on his feet, the young boy hurriedly ran out of the long decorated hallway where he stopped at Ryuka's temporary room, where most of the other maids were gathered around her and some of Ryuka's drop dead handsome bodyguards and servants were fanning her as she was slumped over her couch, her eyes red from the tears she was shedding since she heard the news of Solid Snake's involvement of the Discovery sinking.

"Nooo….this can't be happening." Ryuka sobbed as her arm over her eyes. "Why did the legend have to suffer so much? This is pure blasphemy, I tell you! Blasphemy! I won't forgive anyone who tarnishes a soldier's name like this!"

"Ryuka-san…" Mariel tried to calm her rival down, but Ryuka glared at her as she began to sob and wail again. Taro stepped up closer as a tall, long straight dark haired woman in a black maid's uniform and holding a sheathed katana noticed Taro.

"Taro-sama, what brings you here?" the woman in charge of the Hanauyko security department, Konoe Tsurugi asked in a serious tone while her assistant, the silver haired and tanned skinned, Yashima Sanae watched close by.

"Taro-sama!" Three other girls who actually with long black hair with ponytails were triplets and were dressed in the same pink colored short skirted, maids uniforms, suddenly broke from consoling Ryuka and gathered around him with sad looks on their faces. Ichigo, Ringo and Sango were known also by their other names of Melon, Marron and Lemon and they were in charge of the psychical health department and were also known as the 'three bed warmers', always making 'advances' to the poor Taro.

"We're sad too. Please console us, Taro-sama." Melon said softly to him as Marron purred and played with his shirt.

"Ah, girls…maybe you should wait to hear what I have to tell you all first, it's some very important news." Taro said as they started to kiss him all over without listening. Konoe's eyebrow twitched as she suddenly lifted her katana and suddenly swiped at the air faster than the eye could see her movements, before returning it to the sheath, causing the ribbon areas if the triplets to fall off, letting their hair fall over.

"Ahh! Konoe-san!" Ringo cried out as she pouted at the strict swordswoman who simply lifted her head at the triplets.

"I believe that Taro-sama has something we should all hear since he has come all the way here." Konoe said. "So please be silent or else the next cut will be for the dresses you're wearing."

(Oh, Konoe-sama. You are so wonderful as always!) Yashima thought to herself as she began to think weird thoughts of her and Konoe together in compromising situations.

Meanwhile, Grace with her short and bouncy blonde hair watched by with a quiet look on her face as the events unfold. She had stunted her growth and appearance since she was a little girl due to the trauma she endured in her past. Ever since she can switch personalities without any problem these days, Grace has been in control more often these days to beef up the data security at the mansion, but would allow Cynthia to run around to catch up on things which has been happening. Between Cynthia's quiet gentle self compared to the Grace personality who is rather aggressive with people and just happens to be a programmer for one of the worlds most secretly advanced supercomputers being housed at the Hanauyko mansion, one can't do without the other and the mansion certainly can't be without the two girls as part of the maid team.

Another one of the girls who were also in Ryuka's room was the head of the science and technology department, who also was the eccentric and sometimes insane doujinshi artist, the short haired brunette and glasses wearing, Ikuyo Suzuki. Her inventions in the past were proven dangerous (on Taro's part sometimes) and mostly would blow up, so they don't work too well based on their purposes. She still has ways to go before being a skilled inventor and is currently another of Ryuka's rivals.

But even for Ikuyo, it pained her in some ways to see her friend look so miserable like this. Normally around this time, she would try and ambush her with one of her created weapons, expecting Ryuka to fight back with her military training, but not today. She must have felt this is how soldiers like Ryuka must feel when losing a combat buddy in a war. The most she can do is offer some words of encouragement.

"Come on, Ryuka. It can't be that bad…" Ikuyo said as she scratched her head. "It really can't be for real that Solid Snake is responsible for doing such things over in the States and besides, they have yet to actually confirm everything if they found his corpse."

"Yeah, how can you be so sure about that, Ikuyo?" Ryuka huffed as she looked at the scientist as her red and curled long hair swung in the direction she was facing. "They did have his face printed all over the news, there's no denying the truth about it that he was there when it happened."

"Ryuka-san, maybe it would best that you don't think too much about it." Ikuyo said, shrugging her shoulders. "I know how much you war types adore people like Solid Snake, but that's really got nothing to do with us."

"Well, actually, Ikuyo, that may not be the case anymore." Taro finally spoke now, interrupting everyone who was watching him. "That is why I wanted to tell you all about this as soon as I heard it from Leader-san, who just contacted me."

"Leader from VESPER called you, Taro-sama?" Konoe asked concerned. She knew this sounded extremely important. "What was it about?"

"He had some good news I'm sure everyone in this room will like, especially you, Ryuka-san." Taro smiled as he cleared his throat. "He informed me that Solid Snake is actually still alive and is hiding out in our country, no doubt."

All the maids and servants in the room looked at each other in shock as they heard this while Ryuka stood up and grabbed Taro by the collar.

"Taro, you better not joke with me here!" Ryuka shouted. "I know Leader just as well as you do, but he can't be making a joke like that at a time like this!"

"Please, Ryuka-san…what he told me was the truth." Taro said, getting away from Ryuka's grip. "He said that Snake was probably framed by the Management for this to stop his anti Metal Gear activities."

"Yes, that would make sense if the enemy thinks he was getting in the way of things." Grace's voice spoke suddenly as she nodded with her arms folded.

"Grace-chan, what do you know about this?" Mariel asked as the blonde girl smirked.

"A whole lot more than everyone else does in this room right now." The genius said with a devious grin. "It could be true that Management may be responsible, but it's mostly possible that the Patriots have done this as well."

"Also known before World War 2 as the Wisemen's Committee?" Ryuka's eyes widened as she heard this.

"Yeah, it looks like you've been well informed about them as well. But then again, the infamous Jihoh family has been involved in military affairs for a long time now, so it's no surprise you've must have come across them." Grace said simply.

"Seems you know about them as well, Ryuka-san." Konoe said.

"Yes, my family has been hearing a lot of tales about this group for generations past. Actually, from what I've known through my family's history, the China branch of the Committee was also known as part of the Philosophers, a group of the most powerful and wealthiest men from the three Great Powers, America, Russia and China." Ryuka explained. "In short, the America, Russian and China branches of the Philosophers pose an even bigger threat than Management at the moment. Even if the Jihohs started a war against them, it wouldn't be enough to stop that organization. They are very powerful adversaries who can control the world's events in the shadows, just as Management is capable of doing, but even better."

"From the information I gathered from MEMOL about the facts of the Philosophers during my servicing for the security system, the Patriots are actually the American branch of the Philosophers that were disbanded from the original Committee." Grace then explained.

"So, we got two shadow ruler factions out to get Solid Snake, huh?" Konoe asked. "Is that why Leader called you, Taro-sama?"

"Actually, in a way, he needs our assistance as well to help keep Snake and his partner safe from the enemy until they can clear their names somehow." Taro explained. "So, we'll have to prepare ourselves to look after them when a final decision is made."

"In short, we should be expecting guests from VESPER soon that will be staying with us." Mariel said with a smile. "I'm so glad, Taro-sama. You really are kind to a lot of people, even to strangers."

"I'm just doing Leader-san a favor, that's all." Taro said with a smile of his own. "He was worried actually on how this will affect the matter with SAINT later, not to mention Mahoro and Suguru who will be part of this later."

"Ah, yes. The Misato boy would be targeted indeed by the enemy." Ryuka said nodding her head. "VESPER surely is going to need our help if that's the case."

"Then, allow me, Konoe Tsurugi to notify the security department about this development, Taro-sama." Konoe saluted to her superior. "Yashima and I will not disappoint you in assisting this alliance between VESPER and Philanthropy that will determine the future safety of the human race."

"I'm expecting you two to do a job well done, Konoe and Yashima." Taro saluted back to the two girls who left the room first as Ryuka stepped up afterwards with a big grin on her face.

"Taro-sama, since Leader has spoken to you about this, I shall make my own call to him and notify him of my own arrangements to assist Solid Snake in this venture as well." Ryuka said with a big grin on her face. "The Jihoh family will not falter in accomplishing your greatest wish that will serve the greater need for mankind…."

"Yeah, yeah, be quiet already." Grace said, brushing Ryuka off. "Look, we know you will jump to the chance of getting Taro's choice for a bride, but it will never happen. You just go and do your thing and let me and Ikuyo handle the technological specs for MEMOL in preparation for the famed Dr. Emmerich which I assume, would be also a guest here. Come, Ikuyo, we have lots of work to do."

"Yes, we certainly do, Grace-chan." Ikuyo said as she began to think evil thoughts in her head and her glasses glistened. (Hopefully, I can make some surveillance equipment that would prove useful during their stay and I can certainly get some inspiration for some of my future yaoi doujins as well, hee-hee.)

"Wait, you two!" Ryuka shouted as she followed the two girls outside while the triplets banded together and clenched their fists in unison.

"I can't believe this…Solid Snake is soon going to be staying here." Ichigo said, shaking her head.

"We will certainly do our best from now on to make him and his partner feel the most comfortable of services while they are staying here." Sango said

"That we will!" Ringo said in reply. "Come on, girls. We still have time to start gathering the other girls from the department and start picking out the outfits we will need to make them feel good in!"

"CHARGE!" the triplets rushed out the door in a cloud of dust while Taro chuckled nervously and Mariel chuckled.

"My, this is certainly quite a development for us, isn't it, Taro-sama?" Mariel asked.

"Yeah, it sure is." Taro smiled back at her. "In any case, I'm sure things will get more interesting when Snake starts to stay her soon. But…"

"Something troubling is still afoot, isn't it?" Mariel asked as Taro nodded silently to her question.

"What Leader said about Mahoro and Suguru being involved in the war with Management soon, then with the Patriots around as well…we may be going up against something bigger than what happened with Shiki-oh." Taro said. "But, I won't give up on you guys. I will help everyone to the end, Mariel."

"I know you will, since you never gave up on others before and won't start now." Mariel said, bending over to give him a light kiss on his cheek. Taro's face flushed as she did this as she then took his hand.

"Come on now, Taro-sama. I am the head maid of the mansion after all and I must help in preparing everyone for the members of Philanthropy's arrival." Mariel said smiling. "You have to help me along too, you know."

"Of course, Mariel. I'm coming with you." Taro said as he and Mariel walked out of the room together, hand in hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"AH-AHCOO!" Solid Snake sneezed once more loudly as he was soaking in the bath by himself inside the bathhouse at the Goddess temple. "What the hell's going on around here? Why am I sneezing so much today?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Where…am I?" a weak coarse voice spoke within the darkness as he opened his right eye to look around him. He found himself in a sealed room that looked like an operating room as he stood up to look at his body. "So, I'm still alive and in this accursed body as well…but I'm no longer in prison. What is this place?"

"At last, you've returned to the land of the living, space pirate, Terrant Shank." A loud booming voice spoke from the speakers in the room. Terrant, who was once known as one of the galaxy's most fearful space pirates, is now half cyborg due to his vengeful pursuit of Seina Yamada in the distant past. The left part of this body had been fitted with mechanics from the head down to his leg while the right side still retained its human form. A large scar of an x covered his right cheek. Terrant stood back as he growled to the shadows.

"Who are you people?" Terrant asked in a demanding tone.

"No need to feel frightened, Terrant. You are now among some of the most powerful forces in the habited side of the galaxy." The voice spoke. "You are at a facility created by our organization that specializes in the enhancement of cyborg technology. As you can see, we have performed quite an operation on your body while you were sleeping."

Terrant felt something was different in his body as he clenched his fists, as red energy began to grow through his fists as they turned yellow. The strength was overwhelming for him, yet he felt he had control.

"What is this…power?" Terrant said as he started to grin maniacally. "My body has never felt like this before, even with my cyborg parts."

"We call it Shining Darkness." The voice replied. "However, we also altered your body construction due to the previous cyborg enhancements and it has now amplified the power ten times stronger."

"Shining Darkness, huh? A fitting name for it, indeed." Terrant grinned as he looked up. "But you still haven't told me just who are you to do this to me?"

"We are the Patriots, the American branch of the Philosophers who are currently are the shadow leaders for the planet Earth." The voice said. "Some of our employ actually included certain members of the Galaxy Army, Terrant. And they kept us notified about your skills as a notorious space pirate. After they were revealed by the Police regarding the conspiracy relating you allying with the Army and your defeat, they had a back up plan ready."

"I've heard of the Patriots for years now. Some of my other space pirate crew had even done business with their type before." Terrant spoke. "Am I to assume that I'm also to take part of this charade as well? Why did you go through the trouble just for me?"

"At current, another organization known as Management has plans for ruling the Earth by destroying an alliance that is to be formed between humans and the alien race known as SAINT." The voice said as Terrant growled to this.

"SAINT wants to have peace with the humans after all they've done?" Terrant said.

"Management has gone against the well-being of our plans in the past and the future events will also bring ruin to them also, but we will not allow them to run around forever." The voice spoke. "We need your services as the pirate many to have known and feared as to supply a force that will overwhelm the Management's forces."

"This actually has nothing to do with my well being…all I want is redemption against the one man who brought me down…" Terrant spoke before he was cut in.

"Seina Yamada. Yes, we have been hearing much about him as well, Terrant Shank." The voice interrupted him. "This is an opportunity for you to show him and the Galaxy Police who have foiled your plans many times that you are not to be trifled with so easily. We need you to unify the space pirates that serve you, Shank, as a means to counter the threats of Management."

"If you guys are so powerful to control Earth's events just as this Management does, then why is it that you seek the prospect of SAINT and Earth allying with one another as well?" Terrant asked.

"You will see when everything falls into place later, Shank. Everything is for the will of the Patriots as you will be serving soon." The voice spoke. "We have our plans for the Earth as well, but the elimination of the Management is but one of the phases we have to set in motion for our dream to come to reality."

Terrant sighed as he nodded his head. "As long as I get to gut Seina Yamada, I'll accept this proposal then."

"Excellent. We will provide you with the information and weapons to your disposal, Shank. Also be noted that we've also enhanced your cyborg's psychical capabilities as well." The voice said. "As a matter of fact, we are quite eager to fully test your new skills right here on Earth. Would you accept the offer and show us your power, Shank?"

"Why not?" Terrant asked with a grin. "I'm actually itching to try out this new toy you've given me. So, what is it that I shall destroy with these two hands then?"

A large map screen fills the dark room as the location was marked as the voice continued to talk once more.

"This is Hiryu City, home of the defense organization known as VESPER, which is the centerpiece to maintain the alliance between SAINT and Earth." The voice spoke. "If you feel like, you can make a strike at this peaceful looking city."

Terrant's grin got bigger as he nodded. "Yes, I would like very much to start destroying this peace everyone talks about by starting a little something of my own. How soon can I start?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_(A/N: The timeline for this scene takes place right after the 28th and final episode of Steel Angel Kurumi, season 1. I'm talking about the one where all the Steel Angels from the Academy chase after Nakahito in a contest, of course. So in other words, this happens after the fourth and final episode of the STA: Encore OVAs which is otherwise known as Stateside.) _

Another place in Japan, far back in time following World War 1…

"Master!" A high pitched female squeal came out from a distance in a forested area at a Shinto shrine. A girl in her early twenties with light pink, long hair that was tied in a red ribbon on the top of her head and was wearing a maids uniform of blue and frilly white chased after a short teenage boy with black, spiky hair. "Wait for me! I told you we were going together, aren't we, Master?"

The boy grinned back nervously as the girl who was chasing him finally caught up with him. "Ah, Kurumi-chan, I wasn't really that far yet. Besides, we're still waiting for the others to come with us."

"Nakahito! Wait up!" a male voice called out as a taller boy with a straight cut hairstyle and dressed in traditional shrine mystic clothing of white and blue came towards the two as two other females walked with him.

One of them had short cut brunette hair and was wearing a maid's uniform dress of white and black tights while she wore a maid's cap. The other had short, blonde hair with pointed edges that pointed backwards, while some of her hair overlapped just above both her green eyes. She had a blue beret on her head and was wearing a blue and red combat skin tight outfit and was wearing large, round green earrings. She had an inverted green triangle on the middle of her temple.

"You're coming to the Academy too, aren't you, Kamahito?" Nakahito asked as his big brother sighed as he thumbed to a large group of strangely dressed and attractive women that were all following him. These were all the Steel Angels made by the future driven organization known as Academy who have traveled back into time to prevent an apocalyptic future for mankind.

"Well, since they went through the trouble of trying to win you as the prize, we might as well accompany them back." Kamahito said as Kaga, the only Steel Angel forehead and cheek areas of her face was painted in red tattoos stood next to him along with her cohorts, the blue haired Tsunami and the purple haired Kaori. "Besides, I did say I would take your place if any of them are eager for a kiss during that contest we had."

"Brother, I can't believe you're this desperate." Nakahito said as Kurumi held onto him tighter. "Besides, Dr. Amagi and Dr. Ayanokoji must have been worried about them since they told us they came here without letting the Academy know anything."

Karinka, the blond Steel Angel nodded as she folded her arms. She may be Kurumi's younger sister, but she usually sees her now as a rival for Nakahito. However, she was seen taking a liking to Kamahito a while back as well. "That's right, with the exception of Mikhail that is. I'm sure Kurumi is kind of eager to see her again since things are different than the last time we met her."

"Yes, you're right, Karinka." Kurumi nodded happily. "Mikhail's not really a bad person, but I still won't be able to forgive her because she stole a kiss from my master."

"Sister, now, you shouldn't let a minor thing like that bother you." Saki, the brunette Steel Angel spoke as she stood next her sister. She has a 'misunderstood' closeness to Kurumi that would overstep the boundaries of the term sister, but Kurumi still seems oblivious to it. "Come now, we can't keep our friends waiting to guide them back to their home."

"I really am curious on the Academy's progress so far on its repairs." A soft woman's voice spoke as a Steel Angel dressed in a formal brown kimono and holding an umbrella walked towards Kurumi and her group. "Allow me to keep you company, Kurumi."

"Nadeshiko." Kurumi nodded to her friend. "Okay, you're welcome to come with us as well."

"This should be very fun with all of us going to see the doctors." Nadeshiko said as they began to walk along the forest path, as in the trees, two female figures were watching them from above. One of them had long, curly dark green hair while the other had short cut brown hair. They were dressed in brown trenchcoat that covered their military uniforms.

"Koganei, I can't believe you failed your mission to take the boy." The brunette spoke to her partner. "You are a highly trained spy, yet you didn't do what you were supposed to do. And going in with an alias like that? What were you thinking when you thought of using 'Yaoi' as a codename?"

Koganei sighed as she smiled to her friend. "Well, you can say I was caught up in the moment, Kichijouji. I would have taken Nakahito for myself, but that wouldn't be fair to Kurumi because I know they are inseparable now. Besides, I know they are other cute, young handsome boys his age that are more than available if I look hard enough."

Kichijouji sighed heavily as she touched the handle of her motorcycle and got on it. "At least I get the hint that you're satisfied at the moment about this situation. I just wished I had that enthusiasm if Dr. Amagi was in Nakahito's shoes."

"Come on, we have to keep track of Nakahito and Kurumi so we can make that report to the General." Koganei said as Kichijouji nodded as she sat on the motorcycle while her partner sat on the cart accompanying it.

The group of Steel Angels were able to locate the large fortress of the Academy a while later in a deforested area where they walked over to the entrance, as Mikhail, a very beautiful Steel Angel with a tall stature with long flowing white hair awaited Kurumi's arrival along with her friends. She was dressed in a silver and brown battle uniform that perfectly fitted her shapely figure.

"It's good to see you back at the Academy, Kurumi, Saki and Karinka." Mikhail spoke gently as Kurumi bowed to her fellow Steel Angel. "And hello to you to, Nakahito, it's been awhile since we last met."

"It's been so long since we last saw one another, Mikhail. I hope you've been doing well." Nakahito said, bowing to her. "Um, why are you out here by yourself?"

"Well, I had known the rest of the Angels would have come to you in order to try and untap their hidden powers, which I reckon to have failed." Mikhail smiled as she eyed Kaga and her friends still in their normal appearances. "Really, Kaga. You should have known it was impossible for you to attain one from him that easily."

"Hmph." Kaga grinned at Mikhail as she folded her arms. "Well, you and Kurumi may have gotten lucky, but I'm sure there will be others like him who surely would provide for us."

"That's right, we've already made our minds if we are to try again, we would do it." Tsunami said smiling as Kamahito grinned nervously.

"Ah, ladies. What about me?" Kamahito said as he raised his arm. For some reason, he was being ignored by the Steel Angels from the Academy, but he really didn't seem to mind since he was a bit happy that his younger brother was getting all the attention from the Steel Angels lately. (Oh, well, I know my chance will come eventually…)

"Come on, everyone. The doctors were worried about you for a long while now and they need our assistance in the continuation of the repairs." Mikhail said to the fellow Steel Angels as they walked on together with Kurumi's group inside the steel fortress of the Academy. From a distance, Koganei had returned to her cosplay outfit while Kichijouji was following her partner in dressing up in skimpy cosplay herself.

"And just what is it that you're doing now?" Koganei asked her partner, who was now wearing blonde wig that reached her shoulders as her outfit was a green body suit that was partially opened at the chest area, with only a white chest-plate to cover it.

"If Dr. Amagi is here, this would be a good chance for me to sneak in unnoticed to check up on her." Kichijouji replied, fixing her bust area of her suit while Koganei shook her head, sighing.

"I thought we were to report to the General on the Academy's progress. We really aren't supposed to be infiltrating this place until he gives us the orders." Koganei said. Despite their perverted natures, these two women happened to be highly skilled expert spies who take their jobs seriously.

"Well, think of it as killing two birds with one stone, Koganei." Kichijouji shrugged her shoulders. "We get to keep informed on what's been happening around here while making sure the doctors would still be safe. I heard a lot of the world's governments would send dangerous people after those staying at the Academy for their technology, intelligence and science."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, an enemy country would use this and the Steel Angels to start another World War if they wanted to." Koganei replied. "Well, whether it's for the peace or not, we can't let ourselves be spotted for the sake of the mission. Let's try and blend in with everyone."

The two spies entered and followed the group within the Academy headquarters, where shortly they met with a tall Japanese woman with dark, flowing hair. She was wearing small, rounded spectacles and a military uniform that was covered by a white lab coat.

She was having a conversation with a tall male in his late thirties that was wearing squared glasses and was wearing a black military uniform when Kurumi and her group entered altogether with the other Steel Angels and the two undetected spies.

"Dr. Amagi, Dr. Ayanokoji." Nakahito waved to the two adults. "It's been awhile, how have things been?"

"Things has been quite well, thanks for asking, Nakahito." Reiko Amagi replied as she looked at Kurumi and the others. "And I see the rest of you have been doing well as usual."

"We were wondering how things on the Academy been going since that battle with Kurumi and Mikhail a while back." Kamahito said. "Not to mention, return these girls to you, since I knew you guys were worried about them."

"Dr. Brandow and Dr. Walski were both worried something happened to all of you." Ayanokoji said sternly to Kaga. "At least now you're alright."

"Please forgive us if we made you all worry, we were just eager to try and achieve greater powers if we got to kissed Nakahito." Kaori spoke as Reiko and Ayanokoji stepped back in shock hearing this.

"What…what made you all think that?" Ayanokoji asked as he fixed his glasses.

"Well, Mikhail is now the most powerful among us because of her kissing Nakahito, so we wanted the same thing as well." Kaga spoke as she shrugged her shoulders. "But it was not to be, he is Kurumi's property, so we're not going to bother going after him anymore."

"Thank goodness." Nakahito sighed as Kurumi hugged him tighter. "Kurumi-chan…"

"It's just as I said, master is mine and mine alone!" Kurumi said as Saki lowered her head in the background.

(I'm…I'm yours too, big sister…) Saki thought as her train of thought was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise that rang through the hallways of the Academy which alerted everyone.

"What's that?" Kurumi asked as she jumped to the loud noise as Karinka's expression changed quickly.

"That's just the emergency system on a code red. Something very bad must have happened to raise this kind of level." Karinka said.

"Are we under attack?" Kaga asked.

"No, this is different. The emergency is from within the Academy itself." Ayanokoji spoke. "Everyone, let's get to the bridge. Dr. Brandow and Dr. Walski are both there where they shall fill us in on what's happening."

The group started to sprint towards the direction of the bridge area, where Dr. Brandow, a handsome scientist in his late twenties with long blonde hair was typing away on the keyboards furiously, while his superior, Dr. Walski who also had blonde hair with a single rounded glasses over his right eye and a curly mustache was also typing away on the consoles next to him.

"Dr. Walski, what is happening?" Ayanokoji asked. "Why has the emergency alarm been sounded?"

"One of the power generators for the Academy that is currently under repair has been activated without my authorization." Dr. Walski spoke. "The durability of these generators is ahead of this current science's time and it's very unpredictable if it's grown unstable. It is already dangerous being here as it is."

"He is right. We can't afford it to overload since a chain reaction would result in an explosion of great magnitude." Dr. Brandow spoke.

"Where is this generator located?" Mikhail asked as the map of the Academy was displayed. Brandow let out a gasp as he realized just where the generator was stored.

"Dear God…it's located near the time locator gate we used to get here." Dr. Brandow said. "We must not allow it to go off at any cost. If it does, it will open to a time loop where we won't be able to determine where, or most likely, when in time we will end."

"We can't leave the past as it is, not after so much we acquired during our stay here." Dr. Walski said. "Can we shut it down from here?"

"No, the buildup as already overridden our controls at the bridge, we can no longer stop it using the controls from the bridge." Brandow said. "This has to be stopped manually."

"We'll go." Kaga stepped forward to everyone along with Kaori and Tsunami. "All we have to do is turn this thing off before it overloads, right?"

"Don't do it, Kaga." Ayanokoji said. "Remember the last time you and the rest of the Steel Angels grouped together to save the Academy, it cost you all your lives. If it wasn't for Kurumi and Nakahito at the time to reactivate you all once more…"

"It will be alright this time, doctor." Mikhail said as she stepped forward as well. "I have faith in them all that they will do the job. I will also personally assist as well."

"Mikhail…" Ayanokoji spoke as he nodded simply. "Alright, but allow me to come with you as well as I shall direct all of you to how to stop the overload."

"Allow me to help to the best of my ability as well, doctor." Reiko said as Ayanokoji nodded to his assistant.

"Alright, Reiko. I may need your mind at a time like this." Ayanokoji said as Reiko's face reddened slightly to this. She happened to have strong feelings towards Ayanokoji for some time now.

"Hold it, just where do you think you guys going without us?" Karinka asked. "It's not fair that we can't help you guys the second time after we became good friends now, isn't it?"

"I'm coming too!" Kurumi nodded. "At least let me return the gratitude towards the Academy for getting along with us now after the little misunderstandings we've had in the past."

"Kurumi-chan, would it be okay?" Nakahito asked as Kurumi nodded.

"This would be no problem for me, master." Kurumi smiled at him as Saki nodded as well.

"If they are going, I shall help as well." Saki spoke as Ayanokoji sighed.

"Well, you guys aren't separable however you look at it." He said. "Fine, we shall be going to the power area then."

"Make haste, everyone. You only have minutes before the overload occurs." Brandow said as the group nodded to one another as they left the room as the two female spies, Koganei and Kichijouji followed behind them. Moments later after going through a series of passageways, they finally entered the generator room where they saw large container sized batteries were overflowing with electric current.

"Then again, this will be a bit tougher than we thought…" Kaga said as she rubbed her head. "How are we going to stop this thing now?"

"The problem generator is the fourth one to the right. Take out its power source quickly." Brandow's voice spoke from the PA. Kaga, Tsunami, Kaga and Kaori stepped to the generator where they all saw to their surprise a small black hole formed by the energy that leaked from the generator.

"Dr. Brandow, the generator has begun to leak one of its time loops already." Dr. Ayanokoji spoke.

"In any case, whatever happens, you must not step within it as it will trap you the instant it does." Brandow replied. "Be careful, each and every one of you."

With a simple nod, Kaga took out her boomerang and took a swing at the power outlet of the generator, as the box exploded upon impact. However, the effect was different than everyone expected as the time loop grew bigger than before and soon, it found itself underneath Kaga's and her fellow Steel Angel's feet.

"What the…?" Kaga exclaimed as suddenly the portal opened up around them, encasing them in a dark orb. Mikhail began to pound on the energy field, but was unable to break through as the portal began to swallow Kaga and her group of Steel Angels up.

"Kaga!" Mikhail shouted as she managed to crack open the field, trapping her in the process. With a group of Steel Angels of her own, Mikhail was being pulled into the field herself.

"No, now the field's gotten too unstable because of all the reserved energy it must have! We won't be able to stop it!" Ayanokoji shouted. "Mikhail, it's too late!"

"No, I won't leave them!" Mikhail shouted as soon the energy field began to envelope over her as well. To everyone's shock, the field began to have a life of its own as it began to expand around everything around them, swallowing the room into its bright light.

"This isn't good!" Karinka exclaimed. "We have to get out of here!"

Reiko made a dash to the door, but before she got closer, a rumble within the room had made the already weakly reconstructed ceiling to crumble before the door in front of her and everyone else. Ayanokoji was able to pull her back in time before she was injured, while Saki, Koganei, Kichijouji and Kamahito began to desperately remove the rubble away from the path.

"There's too much debris!" Saki cried out. "We won't be able to get out in time!"

"No…" Reiko cried out as she held unto Ayanokoji. (Is this really the end for all of us?)

The light began to encase everything in the room as suddenly Kurumi bravely stepped in front of everyone as she began to clear the rubble at a breakneck speed.

"We can't give up, everyone!" Kurumi shouted. "We will be out of here soon enough!"

"Kurumi-chan!" Nakahito called to her. As Kurumi looked behind, she only saw the energy field approaching closer to her master as she knew it was building up power faster before she can get away to safety. But more importantly, her master was close enough to the energy that it frightened her.

"Master!" Kurumi shouted as she suddenly grabbed hold of her master's hands in time, while Saki, Karinka and Kamahito grabbed hold of Kurumi and each other as the light from the generator grew larger and larger, enveloping everything and everyone around them…the last thing Kurumi saw after being swallowed by the light was darkness. Not the darkness within herself, but an even more frightening and silent darkness.

"Master…" Kurumi said to herself, feeling herself fall asleep within the empty dark space. She tried her best to stay awake, but couldn't' stay up longer as her fatigue finally catches up with her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After a few moments the energy of silence and darkness, Kurumi muttered as she shook her head and opened her eyes slowly. She thought that her existence have ended as the energy field would have taken her life away just as she saw what it did to Mikhail and her group of Steel Angels. Looking around, she found herself on a plain, green field with her master, Karinka, Saki, Kamahito, Nakahito, Koganei, Kichijouji, Reiko and Ayanokoji.

"What a weird dream, desu." Kurumi rubbed her head she shook Nakahito to wake up. "Master! Everyone, wake up! We're okay!"

"Ugghh…you mean we're still in one piece after all that?" Karinka muttered as she stood up. Everyone including the scientists began to wake up one after the other.

"Yes, it seems an undetermined time loop like could actually transport beings through time without causing them harm." Ayanokoji said as he stepped up. "Dr. Amagi, are you alright?"

"Yes, though I'm quite shaken." Reiko said, fixing her coat. "I take it that time loop got out of our control and then things went haywire from there."

"Correct." Ayanokoji replied simply. "However, I really can't say just where this place is…the time travel system the Academy uses was never meant to switch places while traveling through time."

They looked around and saw they were situated at a more countryside area where tall hills and mountains were strewn all over them. A large lake where boats and a pier can be seen from where they stood and they can see several rural houses as well.

"This place seems very peaceful and tranquil." Saki spoke, breathing in the air. "I sense we aren't at a place filled with war now."

"But it's different from what we normally see…" Kamahito spoke looking around. As he looked, his eyes stopped to see a young girl who was about twelve years old walking towards them. She had crystal blue eyes that fitted a babyish looking face and had long green hair that was tied in a yellow ribbon on top of her head. She was wearing a school girl's uniform of a yellow cream blouse and black mini skirt. "Ah, excuse me, ma'am? Could you spare a minute?"

"Um, my big brother always told me not to speak to weird looking strangers, so I'm afraid I can't help you." The girl replied nervously as Karinka stepped up to her.

"Hey, what about us makes us weird, huh?" she asked as the young school girl looked around at the strangely dressed strangers in front of her, then back at Karinka. "You don't have to worry, we won't hurt you. We're actually good guys."

"She is telling the truth. You are among friends." Reiko stepped forward smiling to the girl. "Tell us, little one. What is your name?"

"I'm…Karen. Karen Onodera." The girl named Karen lightly smiled at Reiko.

"I'm Reiko Amagi and this is Ayanokoji." Reiko introduced herself. "We both are doctors from a very far place and we just arrived here. The people with us are special friends of ours."

"I'm Kurumi." Kurumi waved her arm at the girl. "And this is my master!"

"Um, hello. I'm Nakahito Kagura." Nakahito bowed to her.

"Kamahito Kagura, his older brother." Kamahito said waving to her.

"I'm Karinka." The blonde Steel Angel introduced herself next.

"Saki, it's very nice to meet you." Saki said gently to her.

"Koganei, agent of the Imperial Army." Koganei saluted to the girl.

"Kichijouji, partner to Koganei and agent for the Army." Kichijouji said doing a salute of her own.

"Oh, I see. That explains that burst of light I just saw a moment ago." Karen said, smacking her fists together. "Are you guys the aliens I've been hearing about recently?"

"Aliens?" Koganei asked suddenly. "The aliens are no longer a high kept, government secret?"

"You haven't heard about the recent UFO sightings recently all over?" Karen asked. "Haven't you guys seen the news on television lately?"

"Master, what's a television and a UFO?" Kurumi asked suddenly as Karen sweat dropped.

"Wait, a minute…don't tell me you guys aren't from space?" Karen asked.

"No, we are all from Earth just like you." Saki said as she stepped forward. "It's just that we're a little lost of track of the time we're in."

"Can you kindly tell us where exactly are we now?" Reiko asked her kindly.

"You're at Kizaki Lake, in the countryside just some distance away from the main cities." Karen said.

"Karen, you said you saw us came from the light, didn't you?" Reiko asked. "Did you see anyone else come out of there?"

"Some of our other friends were caught in that same light that we came from." Nakahito said as Karen shook her head.

"No, I didn't see anyone else come out but you guys." Karen replied as Reiko sighed.

(Then that means that Mikhail and the group of Steel Angels were taken somewhere else, but to where and when exactly?) Reiko thought to herself before she asked another question. "Karen, dear…can you tell us what year is this?"

"Why are you strange people asking that?" Karen asked, as she started chewing on her Prech. "This is the year, 2007."

"2007?" Everyone exclaimed as Reiko stepped back.

"So, we really did go into the future…Dr. Ayanokoji, hold me now." she muttered as she fainted as Dr. Ayanokoji held her in time before she hit the ground.

"Dr. Amagi, get a hold of yourself." Ayanokoji spoke as he got no reply from Reiko.

"Nyuu?" The green haired girl simply asked as she looked down on the fainted female doctor. "Did I just say something wrong?"

"No, Karen-chan. You just said something that surprised us, that's all." Nakahito replied. "You see, we're all from the past, some time in 1920."

"Wow, that really is far away." Karen said. "I was just going home to meet my big brother, maybe he can help you in someway."

"Would he be alright about all of us dropping by to see him?" Saki asked.

"He usually is very busy with his work, but I'm sure he will listen." Karen replied with a smile. "Miss Kazami and the vice president of the student council are probably visiting him, and I know they both are smart when it comes to helping out those in need."

"Then, it shouldn't be a problem then." Saki said. "Shall we go, sister?"

"Sure, she seems nice enough to be with." Kurumi replied as Karen smiled at her new group of friends.

"We need to get as much information as possible about the year we're in, Koganei." Kichijouji said. "And I doubt we can call the General for help this time around…"

"You're right…we need to do it as fast as possible." Kichijouji said as she took out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area with them. "Also, I get the feeling we're being watched."

"Can you tell by whom?" Koganei asked.

"Not yet, but I can sense that this guy's good. I wouldn't want to be alone in an interrogation room with him." Kichijouji said as she placed her binoculars down. "Come on, we will have to accompany the doctors too with this Onodera girl."

As the group left, another pair of binoculars was seen being lifted down by a young girl with long, straight brown hair. She was short statured and was wearing a school uniform as well as she lifted herself from the nearby bushes, taking pictures.

"Well, well…this should make the next scandal a whole lot better than the last one." The girl spoke to herself in a deadpan tone as she laughed to herself. "Fu, fu, fu, fu…."

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ShardclawK: How did you like this chapter? I hope I portrayed everyone who has appeared just as close to their anime counterparts though I don't want to think I may have overdone it as long I made everyone who read this update happy. Oh, well. And I know they will all be more lovable when its time to see all of them get together later on in this fic. Also to be notified, as seen in this chapter, we'll eventually be seeing Snake and Otacon meet the Tenchi crew soon, as I plan that series will be among the first for the MGS characters to come into contact with before the others start following soon after. Don't worry, eventually Snake will be meeting Mahoro and her crew, along with the Hanaukyo maid team as well, I got a separate arc for their meetings specifically and you'll be for a surprise when exactly in the second season of Mahoromatic this happens, heh-heh.

Oh, one thing I will make clear from now to the readers who are expecting some yaoi to happen in this story, it's not EVER going to happen. Yes, I may have made some references to it mostly in this chapter, but it doesn't mean I'm actually included them. I would be poking fun at the term time and again in the future, but for the final time, I'm against yaoi like some people and won't be using any indication of the implied pairing for this story. Yep, this is a strictly straight, boy and girl, dude and hot chick story all out.

Koganei: Aww, that's too bad. At least with all the cute boys and handsome men in this fic, I won't be lonely with all later.

Shardclaw: Cut it out, Koganei. You're the one who called yourself that to begin with, which was a rather funny touch. But, the last thing I need is raving fanboys asking for female on female pairings based on some of the ecchiness from certain anime they may have seen that are included in this story. And I know that partner of yours happens to be one of the ones who is putting in the most requests since I decided to include you guys into this story.

The camera shifts to Kichijouji who is eyeing the various different girls in the backstage who are going to be appearing in the story later as her mouth begins to water.

Kichijouji: So many of them…I think I'm in heaven.

Shardclaw: See what I mean? But that's not going to happen in this story, so too bad for you, student of Jirariya.

Kichijouji: Oh, yeah? Well, for that, I'm going to call the entire Hanaukyo maid team for you because I just got a message from Dark-san to send the order for them and the previous birthday shipments of the all Tenjho Tenge girls to gang up on you for delivering such a marvelous update on this story!

Shardclaw: No! Not them! I don't want to be paralyzed from the soreness again!

Suddenly, the stage begins to rumble as the crowd of the Hanauyko maid and Tenjho Tenge girls suddenly picked me up and carry me offstage as I scream for help.

Koganei: That was mean, Kichijouji.

Kichijouji: I know, but that is what he really deserves for making an update like this so awesome. If he starts to update his other crossover stories like this, I don't think he may survive by year's end considering the girls that are waiting for Shardclaw-san.

Koganei: Guess I have to be the one to say what happens in the next update then…

Next Chapter: Otacon becomes a member at the Nekomi Motor club as he and Megumi goes on a double date as a triple threat of OMG focused side stories begins! Who are the next couple they are going to hang out with? Meanwhile, we see where Mikhail, Kaga, Kaori and Tsunami end up when they land in the present era in the one of the surprising places you'll find in this story which will eventually lead to Terrant Shank starting his practice run with his new cyborg powers but gets interrupted by two of Hiyru's defenders who will get to make some new friends during the encounter!

See you in the next update which would be just as cool as this one were for you readers.


	9. Old Friends, New Enemies, part 1

Shardclaw: Welcome again to another crazy chapter for Oh My Metal Gear 2: Substance. Sorry again for the long wait, but I kind of took a short break from working on fiction lately to focus on my lagging gaming schedule and boy, I do have quite a number of titles, both new, current and several old titles to finish up. But enough about my problems for now….

Taken by the number of good reviews from the last update, I was glad you like my interpretation of some of the anime characters that will be more active in this story later, so without further ado, let's get this crazy OMG focused arc started as we'll finally catch up on things going on at Snake's and friends side, while also we start hanging around some of the matters regarding the characters that are expected to show up at the Goddess's temple and even some hints of what's to happen sooner or later in the story.

Before I start the chapter though, I made sure to edit some of the minor errors from the last update regarding a few of the character's names while I was working on and before I had to post this update, not to mention repost the missing chapter 3 for this fic which I had to rewrite all over from scratch with some new added content, but I can assure after all the work getting these chapters ready, you'll appreciate it as I did. Enjoy the update.

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Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance

Chapter 8: Old Friends, New Enemies, part 1

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Somewhere in back New York at Philanthropy's secret and almost defunct headquarters, a tall attractive Caucasian female woman with dark brown long hair dressed in a casual t-shirt and long jeans which were all covered by a lab coat sighed in frustration as she sat behind a desk cluttered with bills overdue utility bills. They were all addressed to Philanthropy after it began its operations since FOXHOUND disbanded, meaning they were responsible for paying the rent and electricity bills to keep the base running. Now, after some months of rare Metal Gear findings, the headquarters are now running low in financial funds, since they weren't sponsored to begin with.

"This is getting really tiresome…" The woman rubbed her forehead as she looked at the piles of bills. "First Snake and Otacon go missing after they get set up from that whole tanker affair, now the rent's gone up significantly! If something good doesn't happen soon, we may as well close down Philanthropy for good soon because we are under funded."

"Things would have been better if Roy was still with us to at least keep things in order." Another female voice spoke as she stepped in with a tired look on her face. It was Mei Ling, who was still in her Philanthropy uniform. "But he did go back into retirement after Shadow Moses; he needed his rest after what has happened, Naomi."

The woman named Naomi Hunter, who once served as the medical analyst for FOXHOUND during the Shadow Moses and is now part of Philanthropy, looked at her partner in silence as she picked up a random clutter of bills.

"I'm so tired, Mei Ling. I thought life in this organization would be easier than when we worked in FOXHOUND, but boy, was I so wrong." Naomi spoke.

"It can't be that bad, Naomi. Besides, I'm certain the reason you came to join us was that you were very worried about Snake and that whole Fox-Die thing he has right now." Mei Ling said with some worry in her voice. "Someone with your field of knowledge is probably needed in our group to check up on Snake before something wrong happens."

"I know…but Philanthropy has only a handful of skilled operatives working right now, while Snake and Hal are busy with the hard work." Naomi said. "I can go as far to say we are a bit low on manpower at the moment or else we wouldn't be having all these problems."

"I know…we recently got a professor and his daughter, Natalie working with Otacon from time to time, but even they need the money to get by." Mei said sighing. "In any case, I just came to tell you how things went at the meeting with VESPER."

"Ah, yes. I almost totally have forgotten about it." Naomi said. "Well, how did things go?"

"Better than we hoped for. It seems Roy did put in quite a word to VESPER's commanders about our activities and are willing to give us a hand in the matter of Snake being framed as well." Mei Ling said. "They are even willing to let us stay at a safe-house to continue our Metal Gear hunting missions at a mansion in Japan."

Naomi suddenly stood up as she heard this. "VESPER offered us a stay at a mansion?"

"Not just any mansion, the Hanaukyo mansion owned by the young heir, Taro himself. It seemed his family and VESPER had some ties in the past as well." Mei spoke.

"You did say that is where Snake and Hal are at the moment, right?" Naomi asked, receiving a nod from Mei Ling. "I do remember hearing Snake saying he's got some friends over there, chances are that he's staying with them."

"Of course, that's what Hal told me." Mei said.

"Does he or Snake know that we've been offered such a privilege?" Naomi said, stepping closer to Mei directly at her face.

"Not as yet. Actually, we need to hear from them first before we can get this alliance with VESPER on the go." Mei said.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Mei?" Naomi said, taking off her lab coat. "We have to hurry and convince those two about this alliance or else Philanthropy's done for."

"Huh?" Mei Ling asked in surprise. "Wait a second, Naomi. I know this is kind of urgent that we have to get this alliance started, but do you think Snake is ready to make a decision about this whole affair?"

"If we go ahead and say yes to VESPER about the alliance, Snake would only grunt about it, knowing him. Besides, I'm sure he is curious as to who is responsible for framing him and this could be a first step to finding the truth." Naomi said.

"I get you, but I don't think he would be happy about it when he finds out that we're suddenly visiting him out of the blue." Mei said. "Or maybe you're just curious to see what is it that is keeping him in Japan this long, hmm?"

Naomi's cheeks turned slightly red at Mei's suggestion as she stepped out of the room hurriedly.

"In any case, we can't waste any more time here. We'll leave the matter of the utility bills for after we convince Snake to get allied with VESPER." Naomi said. "We got a long trip to Japan, so let's get prepared, Mei."

"Yes, Naomi. I'm on it." Mei said jokingly as she walked out of the room with her friend.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Is everyone alright?" Mikhail's voice shouted amongst the small group of Steel Angels that were with her the moment she recovered consciousness after being trapped in the time fold back at the Academy. Kaga, who was with her partners, Tsunami and Kaori, nodded groggily as they approached their leader.

"Yeah, a bit still shaken, but we're okay." Kaga spoke while still acting tough as usual, despite she was just sent through time and space to an unconfirmed location. "What the hell just happened back there?"

"Something that was beyond our control, that's what happened, Kaga." Mikhail replied simply, looking around to see that the group was in a back alley of some sorts that they were never was familiar with. "It seems we've been given an unwanted invitation through time, everyone. I just hope Kurumi and the people with her haven't gotten into a just as bad predicament as we did."

"I doubt it, Mikhail." Tsunami spoke, fixing her dress. "From the way things looked back when the generators at the Academy blew up and the circumstances surrounding them, I fear to say what has happened to Kurumi's group."

(Please be okay, you guys.) Kaga thought to herself, clenching her fists. "So, what shall we do now?"

"It is best we search for information that could help get familiar with this time period for the time being until we can find a way to get back to our original time. Judging by the appearance of things here, we've must ended up somewhere in the second millennium." Mikhail said.

"Good for us, it would be troublesome if we ended up either ahead of the time when we were first developed or even further back in time where the Academy is." Kaori said.

"Lucky for us indeed, you guys." Kaga said. "Okay, we'd better start the recon mission. Everyone should stay together and ask anyone you come across for help."

"We got it." Kaori and Tsunami said in unison as the group left the alleyway and stopped to see themselves in a public street which looked more like a mini shopping district. The sidewalks were crowded with lively people of many types and personalities, standing near food, grocery and snack stalls.

"What kind of place is this?" Kaga asked, as she looked around a bit and almost ran into a short fourteen year old blonde schoolgirl with a single, bouncy ponytail at the back of her head. She had a very cute and babyish face and brown eyes. She was busy stuffing her face with meaty pot-stickers. "Whoa, watch yourself there, kid."

"Mmmm….oiishi." The girl replied as she took one bite of the pot-sticker and licked her lips with a big smile when she finally noticed Kaga standing before her. "Oh, excuse me, I was so immersed in this snack, I hardly noticed anything else."

"Hey, Chizu, wait up!" Another young girl's voice called out as the girl named Chizu looked to see a slightly taller girl with tanned skin and short cut, blue hair and another around her height with long, straight dark hair. They too were wearing school uniforms of cream blouses and brown skirts. Amongst the three of them, she had the biggest chest of the trio.

"Who's your new friend, Chizuko?" The girl with the long dark hair asked as Mikhail approached the trio of schoolgirls.

"We've only just met." Chizuko replied simply. "We've never seen you guys around here before, are you new here?"

"Yes, in a matter of speaking." Mikhail said. "We happen to be foreigners from a far away country and we just arrived to this place. By chance you could tell us where we are now?"

"Oh, you're in the Hiryu City shopping district, part of this zone's major business areas." The tanned girl said as she introduced herself. "I'm Miyuki Sakura, welcome to the city, by the way."

"I'm Rin Todokiri and the glutton with us is Chizuko Oe." Rin said, resting an arm on the ever so cute Chizuko, who kept eating away.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, girls. I'm Mikhail and this is Kaga, Kaori and Tsunami." Mikhail said as she introduced her group.

"So, you really have never been here to Hiryu before?" Rin asked as Tsunami shook her head.

"No, this is our very first time at a place like this." Tsunami replied as Kaga nodded.

"Hey, by chance you could tell us which year is this?" Kaga asked, suddenly causing question marks to appear on the trio's heads.

"Huh? It's 2007, of course. Didn't you guys know that?" Miyuki said as Kaga and Mikhail looked at each other in silence at first before looking back at the schoolgirls they just befriended.

"Sure, we do know, Miyuki. We just wanted to confirm something that's been on our minds since we arrived here, that's all." Kaga replied.

"Uh, okay. Whatever you say…" Miyuki said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, since we're here, we could always give them a tour until it's time to get back to school." Chizuko said. "How about it, you guys?"

"Are you sure it is alright that you could do that?" Mikhail asked.

"Well, yeah. You guys could hang out with us until later." Miyuki replied.

"Yes, this city has a lot to offer to strangers in terms of history." Rin smiled to the group of newcomers. "We would be glad to show you around to the best places."

"However, we really can't stay out too late once it's past evening time, so you're on your own from there." Chizuko spoke as she paid attention to Kaga and her friend's attire. They were pretty strange clothing for people who claimed to be foreigners from another country.

"But don't worry, there's a teacher who stays late at school almost every evening and helps the students with the clean ups and the preparations of the upcoming school festival. Maybe he can do a better job of finding a place for you guys to stay in, like a hotel or something." Rin said.

"Are you talking about Mr. Ryuga, Rin?" Miyuki asked as Rin nodded.

"I'm sure he would be able to help guys you once you tell him that you met us." Chizuko said. "I would know since he saved my life once awhile back, so he's really a dependable person."

"I see, we'll look for this Ryuga person you speak of once we complete the tour of the city. Thanks for your help." Mikhail said as she and the group of Steel Angels with her decided along that it would be best if they would stick with the trio of schoolgirls for the time being, so they can learn as much as they can about the city they were now residing in, Hiryu.

"Okay, then, let's go!" Miyuki waved her arm to the direction where they will take their new mysterious friends for a walk around Hiryu city, giving the Steel Angels a chance to gain information of the timeline they were in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Good morning, everyone!" Megumi Morisato's cheery voice rang from the doorway of the Goddess shrine as she and Otacon took off their shoes and entered the abode. Megumi and Belldandy were in the kitchen getting breakfast ready for everyone to eat, while Snake, Urd and Keiichi were watching the news on the television.

"Good morning, you guys." Keiichi said as he waved to them as Snake does the same with a grin on his face.

"So, Hal, how did your first night with Megumi go?" he asked causing Otacon to fluster.

"Ah, really, Snake. It's too early for you to find out about the details, okay?" Otacon replied while Megumi nudged him.

"You don't have to be shy, Hal-chan. I know you couldn't keep your eyes and hands off from me whole evening yesterday, couldn't you? Especially when it was time for bath time too I must add." Megumi teased him, causing Snake to roar with laughter.

"It's as I said, guys! Nothing happened, so don't listen to everything she says, okay?" Otacon said, rubbing his head. "So, what are we having for breakfast this morning?"

"There you go, changing the subject before it gets interesting." Skuld spoke, placing a tray of herb tea, and well cooked onigiri and vegetables in front of him as his answer. "Compared to two other people I know who aren't afraid to show how they feel for each other…"

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in, pipsqueak." Urd warned Skuld as she held unto Snake some more. The news program they were watching was still about the sunken tanker and the naming of Snake as a renowned criminal now. It seemed to still bother him and everyone else in the room a bit.

"Oh, dear. Are they still talking about you that way, David?" Belldandy asked as she started eating.

"Looks like that's the only important thing they can report these days." Snake spoke as he looked at Otacon. "What do you think, Hal?"

"I wish I know more as you do right now, Snake. But we can only wait for an answer from headquarters about what we should do about this whole thing, not to mention that the new Metal Gear is still out there in Ocelot's hands." Otacon spoke.

"Right…we might as well wait till Mei Ling says something about that meeting you mentioned with that VESPER group and see how this turns out." Snake said.

"Does this mean that you will eventually get to the bottom of who framed you soon?" Urd asked.

"Well, we can't stay in hiding forever and do nothing about it, Urd, that's for certain." Snake said. "There's a good chance you and your sisters would eventually be in danger too if these guys come after you."

"Yeah, they look like they mean business with Snake and his anti Metal Gear activities, there's no way we can get you involved." Otacon said. "You guys are among the best set of friends we can have, it's just that this is probably a bit out of the ordinary for you to handle."

"I think 'ordinary' is the understatement around here, Otacon. You've have yet to see some of the other guests and events that happened in the past." Keiichi said, drinking some hot tea. "I know these guys are dangerous, but Belldandy and the rest of us have gone through just as bad in the past, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Yeah, just like he's saying. So, come on, Otacon. It can't be that bad." Skuld said. "And we did say we will help you in anyway we can, you're not alone in this fight. You and Snake helped us before, you know."

"A battlefield's not a place for children, Skuld." Snake said seriously to her.

"Who are you calling a kid?" Skuld stamped her feet as Keiichi spoke.

"He is right, Skuld. Snake is used to fighting more than all of us do right now. He just wants to see us safe because there's no telling what these guys could pull next." Keiichi sighed.

"But…all I want is to just help both Otacon and Snake-onnichan…" Skuld said, nearly on the verge of tears as Snake looked at her.

"Skuld…" Snake said solemnly, knowing how Skuld must think of him now after the short bit of time he had stayed with the Goddess sisters. Even if she is a genius inventor goddess, this new enemy that has put Snake and Otacon in a bind may also be prepared for the likes of her as well. He didn't want to think about putting someone who he now considers as a kid sister into that kind of danger.

Skuld's face soon went into a sulk as Belldandy patted her younger sister. "Skuld, you know David means well, he is thinking of our safety too after all. Keiichi is right about it as well."

Skuld pouted silently as Snake placed a hand on her head and smiled at her.

"I understand that you really are set to help me and Otacon out and I appreciate your dedication, Skuld." Snake said to her. "But you have to think that your family is important too and what we're going up against. Are you sure you really want to become part of something this dangerous?"

"I told you guys, I want to do whatever I can as a genius and a friend to help you." Skuld said. "Besides, if Washu and Ryoko are brave enough to pitch in, I want to do the same too. And I'm also curious as to what we can expect if we look into the matter further, so we can always be on the ready. So, please, pretty pleasse, Snake-onichan?"

Snake sighed as he smiled at Skuld. "Really, you know that I couldn't say no to a brat like you, especially whenever you pull that 'little kid' act. I'm too defenseless against you. If you're that set to do this, I got no problem with it. You just promise me that you will still take care of your sisters as you're helping us, got it?"

"Sure thing." Skuld smiled as she started to blush. Snake only shook his head with a grin as Megumi, Keiichi, Otacon and Urd laughed at this.

"It seems like Skuld's taking a real liking to you, Snake." Otacon said.

"She's just happy that at least I won't be bothering her too much since Snake will be keeping me occupied while he's here." Urd said.

"We only covered each other when Sentaro visited her the other day and I introduced myself to her, nothing major to be making a big deal out of." Snake replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

As the morning news report went into the commercial break, the television set showed a sale on a line of doll like figures in human size with clear eyes of various colors with two large, metallic coloured head pieces at the sides where the ears usually are. A line scrolling across the screen indicated that these were now on sale at the local electronic stores in Nekomi.

"Hey, it's another commercial about those Persocoms that went on sale recently around the shopping districts of the city." Megumi said, looking at the television.

"Oh, yeah, I heard the sempais and Chihiro were talking about them a lot at the last club meeting." Keiichi said. "They're becoming the talk of the town around here."

"Persocom? Aren't they those newly state of the art computers that were designed in the shape of a human?" Snake asked.

"That's right. I heard they also come in various other forms such as toy figures and even animals. You can go as far to saying they could be the next evolvement of computers itself." Skuld replied.

"Too bad they're so expensive to purchase and maintain. I heard they cost a fortune." Megumi sighed. "It would be so nice to have one around the home to help out with my campus cramming…"

"So, you can have a Persocom do medial work for you if you wanted to, huh? That's pretty convenient." Snake asked.

"Persocoms are becoming a big trend right now all over the world, Snake." Otacon mentioned as a small light bulb lit over his head. "Maybe we could consider having a crew of them taking care of all the unnecessary paperwork in Philanthropy, don't you think?"

"Aren't those things quite expensive and troublesome to maintain as Urd said?" Snake asked. "If we were to do that, Hal, we'd be more into debt than ever if we buy even one of their models."

"True, but it shouldn't be any trouble if VESPER is supplying us with a few of them to begin with." Otacon replied.

"Maybe you should have told Naomi or Mei Ling to include a few of those Persocom units to serve in Philanthropy when they had their meeting with VESPER awhile back. But I guess we can always make requests on the long run." Snake said, shaking his head. "And besides, Otacon, I'd never thought you'd be in this of a hurry to have an actual computer like a Persocom work with us."

"Just think for a moment about it. Persocoms are known to be as powerful as any of the current made computers out there, but they are designed to handle tasks computers can't normally do." Otacon replied. "Being a hacker, I know that there are endless possibilities if we had at least one Persocom we can personally use to hack with into a network that the computers I normally use to work my magic on with less difficulty."

"You got a point there." Snake said. "There's a chance using one of those things efficiently can get us access without being detected by the enemy computer's defenses. But we can't be risking hardware as rare as the Persocom to handle hacking tasks."

"Snake's right, I heard parts for Persocoms are really hard to find or replace." Skuld spoke. "You'd have to treat it as if it was just like any other living being if you want it to last a while."

"Hmmm…" Snake simply sighed, thinking of the prospect of the Persocoms in the world and decided to give it serious thought for another time.

"Well, Belldandy, thanks again for the breakfast, it was delicious as usual." Megumi clapped her hands and bowed to Belldandy as she stood up.

"Yeah, it was very tasty and healthy." Otacon said to her as well.

"I'm glad you two enjoyed it. But, Megumi, if it's no trouble, it wouldn't hurt to ask for a few of my breakfast recipes so you can start to serve Otacon as well." Belldandy noted, causing Megumi to blush.

"Oh, not you too, Belldandy. But, I will consider it, thanks for the offer." Megumi said as she glanced at Otacon, who shifted a bit uncomfortably whenever she looked at him.

"Megumi, I got to ask before you go, have you finished watched your copy of '_War of the Worlds_' as yet?" Urd asked. "I really wanted to see that movie again one of these days."

"Yeah, I still do. If you want to, you can come over to my place before I run off to the campus for it." Megumi replied. "But I recently got the 1953 original, director's cut of the movie on DVD recently, you want to see that one as well?"

"Of course, I do! You know I'm always into the classics!" Urd said almost excitedly.

"Okay, then." Megumi nodded. "Oh, since you're into action flicks as well, you should probably borrow Otacon's copy of '_Versus_', it was a pretty cool and well done movie, despite some of its quirks."

"Yeah, Megumi's right about that. The action sequences in that movie were something out of this world." Otacon said. "It was like watching a real live action anime."

"Alright, I'll come over to borrow these movies from you guys at once." Urd said with a smile.

"I didn't know you were quite the movie buff, Urd." Snake said while Urd shrugged her shoulders.

"It's all she ever knows more often than anything else, anyways." Skuld said in a low tone.

"What's that supposed to mean? All I want is something decent to watch with Snake while he's staying here, alright?" Urd asked, placing her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't mind watching movies with me for the whole day, don't you, Snake?"

"I really don't. I do want to spend much quiet time with you before anything could happen; we might as start with this." Snake said.

"Oh, David…" Urd said, feeling her face turn crimson in front of everyone in the room.

"Onee-sama, Urd's blushing." Skuld said mischievously as Urd twitched her eyebrows.

"Don't push it, you brat, or I will sick Snake on you." Urd replied to her. "I'm going over to Megumi's place now to get those movies, is there anything else you guys want while I'm out?"

"I've been fresh out of smokes since yesterday, so I could use a new pack of cigarettes. You should know my favorite brand, Urd." Snake said.

"Those things will kill you first before Patriots does, David. I'll just bring you some beer and warm sake instead." Urd said as she looked at Skuld. "And as for you, don't even bother saying it. It's ice cream, right?"

Skuld simply nodded in silence with a smile to her older sister's reply, knowing she'd often brings her favorite brand of ice cream out of kindness at times.

"I also have this short list of groceries that we would need for tonight's dinner, Urd." Belldandy said, offering her a slip of paper. "You will be alright?"

"Yep, don't worry about me." Urd smiled. "You guys can go on ahead; I'll catch up with you eventually."

"Well, be seeing you guys later." Megumi said, waving to Snake and the group.

"Yeah, Snake. Keep in touch in case something comes up, okay?" Otacon asked him.

"I will. You do the same too and try to keep a low profile when you on the outside." Snake told him as he watched Megumi and his best friend leave the temple.

"Now, I should get changed and be on the way." Urd said as she looked at Snake. "You're going to be alright, David?"

"I should be, I can get used to this peace and quiet for the time being. It's really relaxing." Snake said to her. "You go ahead and run your errands for everyone. I'll be okay by helping out around the house. I'll be waiting for you when you get back."

Urd gave him a smiling nod as she left the room as Keiichi himself stood up.

"If you'd like, Snake, you can assist me in the garage with Skuld and I doing some minor repairs on my motorcycle." Keiichi offered.

"Thanks, kid, I'd like to help out around here as much as I can." Snake said as Urd stopped him by holding unto the collar of his dress shirt. "What's up, Urd?"

"You've gotten used to this quite quickly, haven't you?" Urd asked him.

"Well, you guys have gotten to grown on me quite a bit." Snake said to her. "I don't really mean to get soft while the danger's still high, but at least it's getting my head cleared from the problems. I'm just trying to make the best of it before the fighting starts."

"Of course you are." Urd replied to him. "Enjoy it while you're can though, this temple is famous for a lot of strange things happening. If the Patriots don't find us first, you can bet something else on the weird side is going to happen. Just be on your guard while you're here, okay?"

"I'll remember that." Snake said to her as she smiled at him before taking her broomstick which she uses for flying.

"Be seeing you later, David-san." Urd said as she kissed him gently on his cheek and stepped outside. Before Urd hopped unto her broom to leave, she took a glance of the blossoming red cherry trees that were scattering leaves all over the garden. Seeing this made her sigh heavily as it brought back some memories of being in love a long time ago.

"Hmm, so it's the season for the plum blossoms once more, isn't it? That can only mean one thing" Urd said to herself as she thought of a particular god who represented plum blossoms who was actually her boyfriend for awhile and was a bard whose instrument of music was an enchanted harp. The two were off to a good romantic start for awhile, until he took off on a journey to seek something very valuable to him. Since then, she always considered the relationship they have was already a ruined one and broke up with him. Now after the times she had spent with Snake thus far, she had almost forgotten that she was still concerned for her ex boyfriend.

"Troubadour…does this mean that you're going to visit again after all this time?" Urd said to herself as she took a proper seating of the broom she usually uses to ride on and made her way from the temple while Belldandy, who was observing in silence from inside, understood what her older sister was thinking about.

(Urd, even now, you're still concerned about Troubadour-san, aren't you?) Belldandy thought to herself as Snake entered the kitchen with dishes and tea cups that needed cleaning.

"Hey, is something the matter, Belldandy?" Snake asked her. "You look troubled."

"Oh, it's nothing, David. I was just looking outside at the plum blossoms in the garden, that's all." Belldandy replied to him as Snake took notice of what she was talking about.

"Yeah, I really have to say that's one garden I'll enjoy getting used too while I'm here." Snake said with a nod. "It's time for them to season again, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Belldandy replied. "Now that I look at it, the garden looks like a part of heaven every year this time and it reminds me of how I enjoy watching the leaves fall during sunsets with Keiichi every evening."

"Keiichi's pretty lucky to have it like this with you guys." Snake said as smiled at Belldandy.

"You're just as fortunate as well, having to come back to us when we all have missed you and Otacon so much." Belldandy said. "Though I only do wish we can do more to help you with your situation with the Patriots…"

"Don't worry yourself, Belldandy. I'm sure things will work out eventually. My superiors in Philanthropy are still trying to get things worked out anyway and I'm sure they will have plan for this soon." Snake said to her as he heard Skuld's voice call out to him.

"Snake-onnichan!" Skuld hopped inside the kitchen as Banpei was tagging next to her. Snake turned to the younger goddess who was smiling at him.

"What is that you want now, Skuld?" Snake asked her.

"Can you be a big dear and get the mail for me? I'm supposed to be getting my new issue of Inventor's Monthly today and I'm kind of busy with Keiichi at the moment with his workshop repairs as you can see." Skuld told him nicely as she showed him the oil and grease smudges on her hands and face. The sight only made Solid Snake surrender to her level of cuteness and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I got no other choice but to try to be useful around here." Snake replied as he rumpled the top of her hair and walked out. "I'll be back shortly, kid."

As Snake made his way and walked to the outside of the garden and made his way to the mailbox, he suddenly stopped as he felt something didn't feel right as his right hand was stretched outwards to the gate.

"Huh?" Snake asked himself as he felt his warrior's intuition kicked in suddenly, sensing danger. He then leaped back a couple of feet to avoid three shuriken which were suddenly thrown at his feet.

"Intruder! Have you come to endanger Belldandy-sama's life?" Snake heard a female voice called out from somewhere as he looked around, yet saw nothing at first. It was then he looked to the ground before him that he almost jumped out of fright

"What the hell?" Snake simply asked, as he saw three, uber cute, miniature sized female ninjas stand in different fighting postures before him. They were all female, dressed in differently coloured kuniochi wear. One of them had long black, wildly grown hair, while the one standing the closest to her had short brunette hair while the third had short cut, black hair.

"So, our information was right. The criminal Solid Snake has come all the way here to assassinate our dear lord, Belldandy!" The black haired one known as Kodama spoke out. "What have you done to her?"

"Wait a second here, what's going on here? And you guys got it all wrong!" Snake said in defense.

"Silence! If you've already slain our Belldandy-sama, we'll avenge her by taking you down using our most brutal ninja techniques! Prepare yourself!" Kodama said, taking out several daggers and shurikens at the same time, which surprised Snake.

(How can a little runt like that hold that much stuff? She must have mastered the Hidden Weapons arts more than I have.) Snake thought to himself as he got into a pose to defend himself.

"Kodama, beware! This man defeated even one of our brothers in the infamous Shadow Moses mission. I will assist you." Hikari, the blonde ninja of the three spoke, which caused Snake to grow curious.

"You three…knew Grey Fox?" Snake asked suddenly.

"We only heard the stories about him, thanks to the information we've been gathering throughout our journeys around the world." Kodama said in a serious tone. "But that is not for you to find out, since soon in minutes, Belldandy-sama will be avenged!"

"Damn." Snake said simply as he got back into his fighting pose. However, Skuld and Belldandy came out in time to see what was going on.

"What's with the racket out here?" Skuld said, as she then noticed the three ninja masters standing in front of Snake. "Ah! It's you guys! You're back!"

"You know these three, Skuld?" Snake asked her as Skuld nodded at him, while Kodama noticed Belldandy approaching them and Snake.

"Belldandy-sama, you're still alive!" Kodama said as she and her comrades bowed to her. "We all thought something might have happened to you when we found out the criminal, Solid Snake was said to be here."

"Kodama-san, Hikari-san, Senrigen-san…you've come home at last." Belldandy said as the three ninjas turned from Snake and began to bow in front of Belldandy and Skuld.

"Belldandy-sama!" Kodama cried out. "We've heard all about what's been happening, so that is why we all came here to see if you were unharmed. We all thought you were…"

"Now, now, Kodama, I'm doing quite well. Thanks for your concern anyway." Belldandy said as she stretched her hand to let the ninjas leap and then perch on her shoulders. Snake stood there almost dumbfounded seeing three of the smallest living persons that ever existed were sitting on the shoulders of a goddess.

"But still…why is HE here?" Hikari said in a nearly dangerous tone as she pointed at Snake. "We saw him all over the news, so why is he here with you, Belldandy-sama?"

"Yes, has he taken the temple by force and made you his hostages?" Senrigen said as Skuld shook her head and ran across to Snake.

"You guys got it all wrong!" Skuld cried out. "Snake's actually one's of our good friends, he's just shacking up with Urd for the time being and that he can stay out of danger for awhile."

"Well, thanks for covering me like that, Skuld." Snake said as he rubbed his temple, almost feeling embarrassed.

"But it's so true!" Skuld said.

"Is this for real? You and this legendary soldier know each other?" Kodama asked, now leaping off Belldandy and close enough to Snake to observe him while her two comrades did the same. It was then Snake realized a common trait the three ninjas shared…they all had small, rat tails swinging from the underside of their backs.

"Yes, he and another good friend of ours who is his best friend helped us out some time ago when the Nekomi campus was in danger." Skuld replied and explained. "We're just returning the favor of keeping him safe for the time being, because he was framed by some potentially dangerous enemies who want to stop his activities of stopping Metal Gear development."

"No way…then Solid Snake never really did anything bad to begin with?" Hikari asked.

"That's what we're trying to tell you guys. He was set up big time." Skuld told them.

"I think you guys owe David-san an apology." Belldandy said to the three female ninja masters. Kodama looked to her comrades got some understanding nodding gestures from both Hikari and Senrigen as she then leaped up to Snake and perched herself to his left shoulder.

"Hey!" Snake said suddenly as Skuld assured him they weren't going to hurt him.

"Relax, Snake. I think they're just trying to say they're sorry." Skuld said.

"Yes, we're truly sorry for jumping to conclusions, Solid Snake." Kodama said as she and her comrades bowed to Snake apologetically. "We were so stressed over worrying about Belldandy-sama's safety after learning that you've known about her and her sisters, so…"

"Hey, you don't need to apologize. I know if Belldandy meant that much to everyone else, they would have worried just the same." Snake replied.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves to you, Solid Snake." Kodama said as she introduced herself as the ninja master of glamour, while Hikari was the ninja master of flash and Senrigen was the master of clairvoyance. She also went by the name of Nozomi, but only her close friends like Kodama and Hikari could call her that.

"I see now. But I'm really impressed about one thing though, you said you three were all over the world recently, am I right? Don't mind me asking, but why was that?" Snake asked.

"Yes, we were curious about the outside world and we also wanted to gain further knowledge of our ninja arts as well expanding them to those who wanted to become part of our clans. Since Belldandy-sama allowed it after becoming her own personal ninjas, we were on a planet wide journey that lasted for almost two years, gathering and making our forces stronger than before." Kodama said.

"I see now, that is quite impressive for you guys. But I got ask as well…why are you three so small, not to mention, having tails on your backs like that?" Snake asked as Hikari answered him.

"You see, we were once originally servants for Mara until she made us like this for several attempts to defeat Belldandy-sama a long time ago. It may come as a surprise to you, but we were once rats, Snake." Kodama said as Snake stepped back.

"You guys worked with Mara as rats?" Snake asked bewildered. "Then, what made you change your minds about working for her?"

"It was all thanks to Belldandy-sama and her kindness and the power that she showed us which let us changed our minds and made us become run away ninjas." Hikari said. "Sure, Mara wasn't too pleased when she heard about this and I'm sure she still is about it."

(Certainly, staying here can't get any more stranger than it is. Maybe Keiichi was right about the term 'normal' around here and I should take his word for it.) Snake thought to himself as he kept staring at Senrigen that was perched on his right shoulder, while Hikari was still looking closely at his face. They both smiled at him as he looked at them, since they were beginning to take a liking to him.

"Well, you three must be tired from your journey. I'll go and prepare some refreshments for everyone inside." Belldandy said as the three ninjas remained perched to Snake's shoulders and head.

"Snake-sama…now that we know that you're an ally to Belldandy-sama, you have our word that we will do everything in our ability to assist you in this matter that has put you in danger." Kodama said to her.

"It's the most we could do for you, since you've helped our master and those closest to her in the past and they seem to have put their trust in you." Hikari said. "Please, will you let us help you?"

"We are also curious about hearing from your own experience about the legendary Grey Fox. Some of our brothers who came from Shadow Moses just to seek us have said to seen you in battle, but we'd rather hear it from you the most." Senrigen said to him.

"Snake, it looks like you got some more new allies to help you." Skuld said to him.

"It appears so. Alright, I'll fill them in on the situation since we're all friends here." Snake said as he nodded to Skuld.

Kodama, Hikari and Senrigen nodded to each other with smiles on their faces, acknowledging the fact that Snake just made some new and unusual friends with them today. But the long path of recruiting assistance for his mission is still far from over….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in an underground cavern deep underground, a particular villain was scrounging through a destroyed cavern that was filled with broken monitors. It looked more like the remains of a destroyed playroom as well.

Turning over the rumble in front of her, Mara stopped to examine the room some more as she have heard about the existence of a Jurian demon named Yuzuha who was defeated by Tenchi Masaki, Ayeka Jurai and Ryoko Hakubi and came to investigate. Maybe what she can learn from the evidence left her from the post battle can give her some aid.

"So, this used to be Yuzuha's shack, huh?" Mara asked herself as she kicked around the place. "Really, not even I can keep this place this messy. I got to give this Jurian demon some props for that. Now, at least one of these monitors has got to be still working…"

Still inside the partially destroyed surveillance room, Mara eventually comes across a monitor that was still active. Not being computer savvy, she was still familiar with accessing secret files, thanks to her previous partnership with Revolver Ocelot before he betrayed her.

(I must really thank that Russian for getting me used to this technology, at least what I learned from him before he set me up is how to access confidential files such as these.) Mara said as she was able to access a record of Yuzuha's experiments.

"What do we have here?" Mara asked herself as she started to look over the files which were dated at certain points in the experiment's course.

_Day 1_

_My grand plan to exact revenge on the Jurai clan has gotten off to a good start. I've easily managed to steal a lock of the traitor's descendant hair with ease and have already begun to assimilate the DNA extracted from it into a vessel containing of my own specific genes. With my knowledge of demon magic, mixed with the cloning and duplication formulas that I've finally perfected after all these years of planning, I shall be able to create a perfect union of light and darkness in the form of a child…that child will be our very own creation and only mine to control._

_Day 3_

_The progress for the experiment is turning out better than I hoped for. From a single lock of hair combined with my own DNA, an actual embryo was created within the hour it was mixed and is rapidly growing. The embryo began to grow into an average size of a normal, healthy baby in only a matter of hours thanks to the increase of the growth rate I myself have included into its DNA. The gender of the embryo actually turned out to be a female with blue hair, since she has my genes as well, the hair color matches. I assume it would be able to grow into a toddler in just a matter of hours, and in another matter of days, into a healthy teenager. _

_The plan is going well without a hitch and once she is of learning age, I will begin to train the girl all she needs to know very soon…_

_Day 7_

_I've given the subject a name, as she will be referred to from now on as Makuya. I've given her the relevant training using the Jurian blood within her to be able to use the Light Hawk Wings, an inheritance from her father, Tenchi, as well being able to use the powers of a true bred demon within her. She is a quick learner and I was able to convince her of the fact that Tenchi is her father. I will surely use this to my advantage as I will use Makuya to win her way into those foolish hearts that are with Yosho who betrayed me…_

_My plans are to eventually set Makuya free into the world and have her bring Tenchi to me, allowing Yosho and the others that have been with him into my trap where I would be able to manipulate them. Then I will dispose of Makuya once my revenge has been exacted. _

_Soon, my dear Yosho, you will pay for making me suffer for all these years…_

As the file ended there, Mara got a clear understanding of what happened now as she begun to think to herself.

(I see…so the rumors of the first closest heir to the Jurai throne of being a father are true. Yuzuha must have been a genius to cook up something that dangerous in only under a week too. This is some incriminating details I could use.) Mara thought to herself. (If only she was still around, I could use her knowledge against Ocelot and those who are supporting him, but since that's the case…I will have to use some other methods. Having a demon fused with Jurian blood working under me would level the playing field in more ways than one for me.)

"Aren't you going to fill me in on your next scheme or are you just going to keep it to yourself this time, Mara?" another female's voice spoke from behind as Mara suddenly turned around and to her shock, saw a young girl with tanned skin and long silver hair that was tied into several locks and was dressed in a short red vest and pants. She had a wicked smile on her face as she sat their innocently in front of Mara, who was for some strange reason, scared shiftless.

"Ah…Hild-sama…why are you here? How did you find this place anyway?" Mara muttered at the sight of the most powerful demon that ever lived, who also happened to be Urd's own mother of pure demon blood. Although she looked like a child now, she could change her appearance by a simple thought and reveal her true appearance as a very beautiful and voluptuous woman. It was the simple looking hair locks that she wore that suppressed her true powers as a High Class demon.

"Oh, I was just in the neighborhood when I ended up this way, so I might as well see how things were going with you. It's been awhile since I visited this place though." Hild said as she walked closer to Mara smiling. "May I ask what is it about this place that interests you so much?"

"I'm just looking for several clues that can help me exact revenge on a man named Revolver Ocelot and his employers. Surely you already know of the details, Hild-sama." Mara said to her.

"Ah, you must be referring to the western branch of the Philosophers who call themselves the Patriots." Hild said with a grin. "I've heard much of those guys for awhile now thanks to the underground network which fills me on the activities on the human world."

"Hild-sama, I cannot allow Revolver Ocelot get the best of our kind. He has to learn the hard way that we are not to be fooled so easily." Mara said as Hild shook her head.

"I understand that you want to get back at this man for using you like this, Mara. I for one, am curious on what is it you have in mind for handling him, but before that…" Hild was close enough to stare down at Mara who started to freeze out of fear. "I've been hearing some new rumors regarding my daughter and her sisters right now. Mind to share with me what is it about this man named Solid Snake being apart of their lives, hmm?"

Mara stepped back suddenly as Hild approached her even more.

"I will be able to help you, but you must show your worthiness to me this time, Mara. So, before you go on about the Patriots, my dear Mara…I want you to fill me in on what you know about Urd's new boyfriend so far." Hild asked with a wicked smile, causing Mara to stutter.

"What…what makes you so interested in knowing about Solid Snake, Hild-sama?" Mara asked.

"Oh, you don't need to know more than you intend to for the time being. I have my own little plans for him too, you see." Hild said as Mara shivered in front of her superior. "Now, let's start from how you got mixed up with these affairs, Mara, starting from that incident back at the campus awhile back…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back on the outside world on the countryside of Kizaki Lake, at a house situated on the hill near a roadside….

"Where could Karen be? She's awfully late coming home today." A red haired teenage girl with clear blue eyes looked over the horizon from her porch. She was sporting a yellow jeans and short cut jeans. Inside the room next to her, two other females was with her, one of them is a slightly older teen with long flowing, dark hair and was wearing squared glasses as well a cute little leather choker around her neck with a small heart ornament to hold it in place. The casual red tight t-shirt and khaki jeans that she was wearing showed off a slender figure for her age. The other female with her was in her mid twenties with long flowing hair that was a dark lavender color with matching eyes. She also was wearing glasses and a long dress that also showed off her figure.

"Want me to look for her, just in case?" Tsubaki Oribe, the older teen who was one of the senior heads for one of their school's clubs, spoke.

"I'm sure she's alright, though the area is kind of new to her. Besides, Miina, Miss Kazami and Tsubaki are guests came to visit all of us. I should be the one to go and look for her. There's some stuff I got to pick up from the computer store anyway." A male voice spoke as Maiku Kamishiro entered the room, handing Tsubaki some documents that he personally was working on. "Here are those worksheets for next week's club activities, class pres."

"Thanks again for the favor, Kamishiro." Tsubaki replied as she looked at Maiku, who had blue eye with short cut purple hair and was a committed programmer who was living alone recently until he learned about his relation to one of the two girls that was staying with him for awhile. She herself had a crush on him for awhile, but her true affections lied with Maiku's eccentric friend, Kousei Shimazaki. She was rather pleased with the relationship that they had which was falling apart before was resolved and things are getting better between the two of them.

The former star athlete who was Miina Miyafuji simply sighed at her boyfriend and nodded. "Alright, I guess I can manage to handle the fort a while longer."

"Still, it's not like her to be this late, unless the Herikawa needed her." Mizhuo Kazami spoke. She was known the most around the school she worked in due to the fact that she married of her students, Kei Kusanagi just to hide the fact she was an alien sent to observe Earth.

"If so, they could at least call us and told us she's with them." Maiku said seriously, as he was very worried about his newfound younger sister.

Soon, they heard the door slid open and Karen's excited voice call out to the people in the room.

"Big brother! Miina! I'm home. Is anyone here?" Karen called out as Maiku, Miina, Tsubaki and Mizuho entered the entrance area of their house.

"About time you got home, we were starting to worry about you, Karen." Maiku said as he folded his arms.

"I'm really sorry, big brother. But I was only helping these people here…they seem to be travelers who got lost." Karen said as she stepped aside to let Kurumi's group of friends enter. "I thought you and Miss Kazami can help them out, so I've been telling them about our home and such."

"What in the world?" Tsubaki said as she observed the new group of people before them that neither of them had seen before.

"Karen, just who are your new friends?" Maiku asked as he stuttered seeing the four Steel Angels, Kurumi, Karinka and Saki along with Nadeshiko, and the humans with them, Nakahito, Kamahito, Yoshino Koganei, Eiko Kichijouji, Dr. Reiko Amagi and Dr. Ayanokoji, who were still sporting in their original attires from their post World War 2 era.

"Excuse me, young man. Your sister has been guiding us and telling us about this…area of the country." Dr. Ayanokoji said as he was still holding unto an unconscious Reiko Amagi. "She is right about us being travelers, though."

"Karen, just how much did you tell them?" Maiku asked her.

"I do remember them asking which timeline it was and I told them it was 2007." Karen replied to him. "Then some of them did some of the strangest reactions I've ever seen because they said they came from another time."

Mizuho looked on in silence as a thought hit her while she studied the timeline of each of Kurumi's group of clothing in comparison to the ones everyone else was currently wearing.

(Judging from the archives I've studied in the Academy based on Earth history, these people are indeed from another point of time, more like dated back to the early World War eras. If these people have come from that point of time, did something happen that would have caused an accidental time slip to occur? If so, how come the Federation didn't see this happening, I thought there were measures to prevent these sorts of things to protect intergalactic galaxies as well as the laws that protect them.) Mizuho thought.

During her time on Earth as an undercover observer for the people she worked for, she was aware that possible time 'paradoxes' and 'slips' were becoming a common thing that even the most powerful of space criminals who had access to vast time and space travel were using the knowledge of time machines to mess up time. Her time with old friends, Amane Kaunaq and Kiriko Masaki, also reminded her of a tale Kiriko once shared with her from Washu on how her cousin, Tenchi Masaki was almost erased from existence because of the infamous supernova named Kain was close to assassinating his soon to be parents, Nobuyuki Masaki and Achika Kiyone Masaki in the early 1970's.

(This must be another one of those unexpected accidents that even the Federation or the Galaxy Police must probably didn't see coming or else word of it would have reached Marie by now.) Mizuho thought some more.

"Greetings, desu." Kurumi waved to Maiku and his group as he nervously waved back at her.

"Ah, hello." Maiku replied as he shook his head, staring at the group. He then saw Reiko Amagi slowly coming to as Dr. Ayanokoji noticed that she was waking up. "What happened to her?"

"It's alright; she just fainted from some of the shock before." Ayanokoji said. "Would it be alright with you that we laid her down to relax?"

"Sure thing, I'll help you out." Maiku said, offering to help Ayanokoji and Kamahito carry the still unconscious Reiko into the living room where they laid her on it as easily as they could so she was comfortable.

"I'll go get her something cold to drink." Minna said as she then looked at the group of strangers once more. "Then again, I'm sure every-one of you must be famished, I might as well get drinks for all of us."

"That's a good idea, let me help out." Tsubaki said as Maiku looked at Mizhuo before looking back at the group of people before him.

"Well, Miss Kazami, what would you think of this?" Maiku asked as Mizuho looked on, still in amazement.

"I'm still as dazed about this as everyone else, Kamishiro. But they do look like they are in need of some help, we should probably tell them about much us as we can." Mizuho said. "Since they can speak in Japanese, at least it makes things easier."

"You got it." Maiku replied with a nod as he looked at Karen once more. "Okay, Karen. What did you exactly see when you met these people?"

"I was on my way from the shopping when I was passing the fields and I saw them being dropped out from a bright light. At first, I thought these guys are the aliens that were flying around in those UFOs that were being spotted around the country recently, but they seem too nice to be from outer space." Karen said as she continued eating from her Prech, causing both Maiku and Mizuho to leap up in alarm, while Karinka stood up in a fit.

"Now wait just a minute! You can see for yourselves we're not from outer space, kid!" Karinka shouted as Saki and Kamahito tried to hold her back.

"Karinka, calm yourself, will you?" Ayanokoji warned her as he faced Mizhuo. "You have to excuse Karinka there, she happens to have the shortest temper among all of us."

"But what she said about us being thrown out from that light in the fields was true. We were all at another place when something happened to bring us here." Nakahito spoke now.

"Would you be able to explain yourselves what exactly happened?" Mizhuo asked as Minna and Tsubaki returned to the room with trays of ice and drinks.

"Yes, since I myself have a very good idea what could have caused us to be displaced here in your current era, I could give you the details that you may need to know. But first, we must introduce ourselves so we can get to know each other better. I'm Dr. Ayanokoji and the woman we brought in is Dr. Reiko Amagi." Ayanokoji said as he showed Reiko slowly getting up.

"Doctor…? What's happening?" Reiko opened her eyes as she suddenly saw where she was and opened her eyes wider. "Where is this place?"

"Relax, Reiko-san. You're at my big brother's house." Karen called out to Reiko who looked at her direction, but showed a sulking face. "Is something the matter, Amagi-san?"

"So, it wasn't a dream after all. We did end up in the future and still there's no telling how Mikhail and the group of Steel Angels that were with her are doing right now." Reiko said as Maiku fixed his eyebrows.

"Wait a minute, are you saying there's more of you guys from the past that are around in our era as well?" Maiku asked as Ayanokoji nodded.

"Yes, they were among the first be caught in the time fold explosion that occurred at a facility back in the 1920's, where we originally came from. They volunteered to stop it, but it was too powerful for all of us to stop manually and we were caught up in it as well." Ayanokoji said. "As far as I can tell, they could be wandering through any particular place and time about now without either of us knowing."

"Whoa, this is some heavy stuff." Tsubaki said, sipping her soda.

"I agree. But it would be better if you told us from the start more about you guys." Maiku said.

"Alright, since we already introduced ourselves to your sister who was kind enough to be able to guide us to you, we might as well fill you in on about ourselves." Kamahito said, as he and the group of Steel Angels and humans that were with him took their seats and started to properly introduce themselves to Maiku, Mizuho, Minna, Karen and Tsubaki.

They were also filled in on the facts that Kurumi, Saki, Karinka and Nadeshiko were the few Steel Angels that came to the current era with them while the rest that were sent into the first time fold were all Steel Angels themselves. They then told them of the objectives of what the Angels were designed for, their capabilities and the reasons the base which housed them was transported back into time, really shocked the people in the living room of Maiku's house that day.

In exchange of the information since Ayanokoji and Reiko seemed to trust Maiku and the friends with him thus far, the group that was misplaced out of time was filled in on progress of man in the year 2007 by Maiku, Mizhuo, Tsubaki and Minna.

After about two hours and a half of introductions to each group and explanations later, both groups were stunned from learning a lot about each other after listening to their stories. Maiku was among the first to speak.

"So, you guys were originally from the far future, but you went back into time to preserve this planet from a devastating war that is going to happen. Man, this is really creepy just thinking something like that is actually going to happen to us." Maiku said as Karen held unto his shirt.

"You don't think the aliens are going to be responsible for that war that's going to happen, big brother?" Karen asked in a frightened tone.

"No, although you did say that they have become common in your era now." Koganei spoke, who have been eyeing Maiku the whole time and earning glares from Minna.

"Not just around here, but all over the country and the world too. It only started recently, but it doesn't look like they have any hostility towards us just yet. They probably just want to make their existence known." Tsubaki said.

"So, since you guys are here, does this mean we're still going to be under attack soon?" Karen asked as Saki shook her head.

"I doubt it…we ourselves are doubtful of who exactly will want to put this world into turmoil because we haven't fought these creatures that would be attacking soon, so we have no relevant data of the ones who wishes to destroy this world." Saki replied. "All we can do is to just wait for the time to come and be prepared to defend this world from that evil."

"So, you guys really shouldn't get worked up about it. When those things show up, we'll just have to mess them up big time." Karinka spoke with a grin. "In any case, we need to get in touch with someone who can help us find our friends and get us back into our original period."

"That is out of the question, Karinka." Ayanokoji said. "Surely, we may have ended up in the future, but there is no one capable yet of helping us just yet with those problems."

"So, we're just going to have to sit around and not do anything?" Karinka asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Allow us to go around the area and get some information for you, it's the most we can do since we got ourselves dragged into this as well." Koganei said as she and her partner stood up together.

"Yes, there has to be someone who could help us." Kichijouji said as Tsubaki stood up.

"Um, I happen to know someone, she happens to be a very reliable source of gathering information just as good as the Echelon. I know this for a fact." Tsubaki spoke. "I could always give her a ring and tell her to be expecting you, if that's alright."

"Yes, please go on ahead and make your arrangements, Tsubaki-san." Reiko said as Tsubaki nodded and got out her cell phone to make her call while Maiku conversed on with Kurumi's group some more.

"Since you guys are going to be stuck here for awhile, you will need a place to stay in. Unfortunately, this house won't be able to accommodate all of you." Maiku said.

"Big brother, why not let them stay at the old house on the other side of the road?" Karen asked.

"You think that place is still suitable for living conditions?" Minna asked.

"It may look run down, but we've been giving it a fair clean up time and again since we found out that Karen and I were related in case something like this happens, haven't we?" Maiku asked as he looked at Ayanokoji. "There's this house we all used to live at across the street. It may still need some serious tending to, but it should be okay for all of you for now."

"If there's any cleaning to do, leave it to us to get it done." Saki said nodding. "We're not just battle androids, but we're also dependable housekeepers. We will get things ready by the meantime for the doctors and the Kagura brothers. You just show us where this house we're staying at is."

"You make it sound as if it isn't a problem to you guys." Mizuho said as Tsubaki returned to the room.

"I just spoke to Ichigo and told her to meet us back at the district. She should be able to help you two for the time being." Tsubaki said as she turned to Maiku. "You guys are going to be okay with all this going on?"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Maiku simply asked as he folded his arms. "I hope the study body president has the relevant information than can help these guys."

"Who knows? She could surprise us." Tsubaki said as she looked at her watch while Koganei and Kichijouji stood next to her. "Well, I wish the best for you guys. I got to go get ready for a date with Kousei in half an hour after I find the president and I don't want to be late. I do hope we'll get to see each other again soon and that you will find the rest of your friends, Kurumi." Tsubaki said with a grin as the three left.

"I have to be leaving as well. Kei and I have an important dinner date later and I have to prepare." Mizuho said as she bowed to Ayanokoji's group. "We'll keep in touch, Dr. Ayanokoji. I do hope you that things turn out well for you. And Kamishiro, please take care of them."

"The same here, Kazami-san. I do we'll meet again soon when things get better." Ayanokoji said to her as she left the door.

"I will make sure to do that, Miss Kazami." Maiku said as Mizuho left afterwards.

"I do hope Mikhail and the rest of the Steel Angels are okay, wherever they are." Nakahito said sullenly.

"Me too, desu. I hope we can find them soon too, desu." Kurumi said, clasping her hands together.

"Hey, it's kind of getting late. Are you guys going to be alright over next door?" Maiku asked.

"We really don't need to bother you guys since you look busy and everything." Karinka said to him. "As for the house you're lending to us, we can get it fixed up for living conditions in no time. We're more efficient than we look."

"Yes, leave it me, Saki and Karinka, desu." Kurumi said, smacking her fists together.

"We'll help too, if you like." Kamahito offered as did Nakahito as well.

"Okay, we got some spare futons that are in storage. Karen and I could carry over those if and help with the clean up if you'd like." Miina said.

"Thanks a bunch, you guys." Karinka replied to her.

Meanwhile, Eiko Kichijouji and Yoshino Koganei were tagging along with Tsubaki Oribe and Mizuho Kazami on their way back to the city, where hopefully the authorities should be able to help them clarify things on what's been going on in their timeline.

"So, this Ichigo Morino character has access to important information, is that it?" Koganei asked.

"That's right. It's really amazing when you think about it. She has her resources and so far, she seems to have never been detected in doing so." Tsubaki said as she stopped a good way to see Ichigo herself approach the group.

"Good evening, people." Ichigo said with a simple wave to the group. She was wearing her school uniform still and was carrying what appeared to be a simple suitcase. She had two teenage figures accompanying her as Mizuho instantly recognized them.

One was a boy with tanned skin and bleached blond hair of a tall stature, while the girl with him had long red hair that was tied to a single ponytail was holding hands with him. They were still dressed in their school uniforms.

"Magamo, Misumi, it's unusual for the two of you to be out this late, but then again, you do seem to be doing this more often than before." Mizuho said to the young couple as Hyosuke Magamo and Kaede Misumi blushed at this. The two of them have gotten past the point of intimacy at a summer vacation and now they are inseparable as they can be seen together often.

"Good evening, Miss Kazami, it's not really like it this time." Hyosuke said, rubbing his head nervously. He may appear to look laid back, but he's actually a very studious and dedicated student with excellent grades and his current goal is to become a part of the Japanese government cabinet in order to change the law system once he leaves school. He's actually much smarter than he acts and looks. "We actually came from the hospital after visiting Matagu."

"Yes, he's still hasn't recovered yet from that incident. The condition's really serious, even though he's in stable condition." Kaede said. She always has had very strong emotions towards Hyosuke long before the incident during their summer vacation two years back.

"I see. We had no idea it was that serious. This makes it, what…the third month since he's been in hospital?" Mizuho asked as Hyosuke nodded, as he then noticed Koganei and Kichijouji.

"Oh, who are your new friends?" Hyosuke asked.

"Oh, we met them while we were visiting Kamishiro." Tsubaki replied, allowing the two spies from the past to introduce themselves. "They're Eiko Kichijouji and Yoshino Koganei. They just happened to be travelers who just want certain information that they need to help their friends. They're kind of lost at the moment."

"So, these are the people you told me about over the phone?" Ichigo asked as Koganei and Kichijouji stared at the young girl intently.

"Yeah, I thought your information network can at least give them a lead to somebody who can help them." Tsubaki said. "You can trust her, you guys. She's really helpful even though she doesn't look it."

"Are you sure about that, Tsubaki-san?" Koganei asked. "She looks so younger than even Nakahito…."

"Don't let my looks fool you guys. I'm much older than you'd think." Ichigo said with a grin. "I also know for a fact that there's something about you two that you'd like to share with me, considering that you and your friends are really not from this…"

"Morino, it would be best for the safety for both Koganei and Kichijouji-san that you'd keep quiet about this for now." Mizuho said as she suddenly cut in, covering Ichigo's mouth while Kaede and Hyosuke looked on quizzically. Somehow, Ichigo already knew about the point of the two female spies' origins. (A/N: See the ending of last chapter for details.)

Not fully understanding why Mizuho want to cover for the spies as a means to protect their secrets, Ichigo decided to play along and nodded to Mizuho before she approached the women once more.

"Alright, you two, since you're looking for reliable information to aid you, I was just on my way home. If you'd tell me about the dilemma you're in, maybe I can come across a solution." Ichigo said, before she smiled. "Come with me and I will take you to places that you never thought was possible…fu, fu, fu…"

Both Koganei and Kichijouji stepped back when they saw the look on Ichigo's face as they knew something was very unnatural about this new source for information. But since they had no other choice than to trust Tsubaki's judgment, the two sighed and nodded their heads at Ichigo.

"Alright, we'll go with you then. We're counting on you." Kichijouji said as Ichigo left with the two spies. As they left, Mizuho felt her handbag shake as she took out her cell-phone to answer it.

"Hello…oh, Kei. I'm already on my way back home, can you just hold on a few more minutes?" Mizuho replied to a young male's voice which answered back to her.

"I was kind of getting worried when you're coming back home. But I'm glad you're okay." Kei Kusanagi, Mizuho's eighteen year old student husband, answered as he was home getting dressed for their date. He had pale skin and bleached short cut hair.

"Something came up at Kamishiro's house while I was there earlier, but everything's okay now." Mizuho said.

"Well, I'm almost done changing anyway. How about I just meet you where the restaurant is instead?" Kei asked.

"Yes, that can work. The dress I have one should be casual enough for the evening." Mizuho said with a smile.

"Oh, yeah. You got a message from Marie's frequency earlier today." Kei said as he fixed his tie. "It seemed really important, since he was making quite a fuss about it. Something about the Galaxy Police going under major investigation on Earth's current situation, not to mention that you got two old friends coming to visit you soon."

"Thanks, Kei. I'll check on it the moment I get back." Mizuho said. "I'll be seeing you in a few, dear."

"Yeah, be careful on the way, Mizuho." Kei said as he hung up, leaving Mizuho to think a bit over what has happened. From all the signs Mizuho has seen today, she could only point out that something big was going to happen very soon.

(First the accidental time loops and the possibility of the Galaxy Police on a major investigation on Earth orbit and SAINT's recent appearances…what could all of this mean and lead up to?) Mizuho thought as she walked home with Tsubaki. (Whatever the case, I just hope Kei and the rest of my friends won't get dragged into something dangerous based on how things are turning out. We'll just have to wait and see when Kiriko and Amane would surely visit eventually….)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in another part of the country….

It was close to evening time at Hiryu city's high school, where most of the children were now finishing up their classroom activities and were heading home. Among the group of students was one of the only male teachers who stayed behind and was assisting them, who just happened to be the most admired of the schoolgirls attending there.

He had a tall and lean stature that hides a well developed muscular body and had a short straight cut hairstyle that was coloured light grey. He had deep, yet gentle and mysterious clear, crystal blue eyes. Dressed in his casual teacher's uniform of a beige creamed shirt and pants, he was known to everyone as the one of the teachers of the school, the main crush for all schoolgirls and formerly Mahoro Ando's enemy, now a fellow compatriot for keeping the peace in Hiryu city.

But in actuality, he is the SAINT combat android, Ryuga and he was taking his time enjoying his masquerade as a human. His time as a teacher and the times he spent on Earth had made him more and more curious about human nature and he hopes to at least understand and participate in their courses over time. So far, he seems to be enjoying the experience, since mostly these days, he would often get scolded by his older sister, and fellow SAINT android, Sera for coming home late.

(I know Sera would get upset with me for coming home late again, but I really couldn't help it if I've grown too fond of the children here who need my assistance.) Ryuga thought to himself with a grin as he easily took a heavy box that a group of girls were trying to carry from the classroom. "Allow me to get that for you, girls. You don't need to trouble yourselves with it."

"But, Ryuga-sensei…" One of the girls flustered in front of her friends, as the SAINT android simply bent over and took it up with one hand and lifted it over his head.

"This really is no problem." Ryuga smiled at them. "Just tell me where I should carry this."

"We're taking it to the gym. They are the decorations we will need for the school festival soon." One of the girls said as Ryuga nodded his head.

"Ah, yes. I've heard the other teachers been talking about it a lot recently." Ryuga said.

"You will come, right, sensei?" the girls asked.

"Of course, I would. I am a teacher for this school after all." Ryuga smiled as he accompanied the girls to the gym where he dropped off the parcel. To the girl's amazement, he didn't even break a sweat and still looked proper and handsome in front of them.

"Well, here you go." Ryuga said. "It is getting pretty late here, so you all should be heading home before it gets dark."

"Oh, we will, Ryuga-sensei. Thank you so much for the help." One of the girls bowed to him as her friends followed suit.

"Glad to be of help." Ryuga said waving to them. "Well, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Take care now."

As Ryuga left the room and the girls walked off in a separate direction, they began to talk amongst themselves about him.

"Ryuga-sensei is sooo strong and dashing." One of the girls whispered.

"That is so true. Almost all of the girls like us are so into him." Her friend replied.

"I wonder if he has a girlfriend, but he's always so straight and narrow, he doesn't seem to be the type to be actually dating right now." The other said to herself.

"Yeah, I just hope he isn't taken." The last of the girls said as they walked out of the compound into the schoolyard where the sunset had now rested over the field. As they girls walked home together, a lone figure stepped out of the shadows, one of his eyes glowed a red color as his fists glowed yellow afterwards. An evil grin then crept on his face afterwards as he saw Ryuga walked out of the school and headed in a separate direction.

However, he can't fool Ryuga's sensors and the combat android's battle instincts. Ryuga has been a pure bred warrior who has been used to sensing an enemy's presence.

(Hmm, this one isn't that mangy panther, though.) Ryuga thought to himself. (I guess I should play along and go to a better place where we won't cause trouble for the civilians around here.)

Acting still as if he hasn't noticed it yet, Ryuga let the stranger follow him a good bit away from where other innocents wouldn't get caught in a battle and stopped midway before a park. It was then he sensed something else as he stepped into the park.

"Well, what good timing that I meet you here this evening…Slashie." Ryuga stopped as he then saw a sleek and black panther with clear golden eyes approach from the shadows in the bushels.

"Hmph, seems to me that I have a long way to go before I can sneak up on you. And will you stop calling me by that stupid name, Ryuga. The only person ever allowed to call me that is Harune, got it?" The VESPER created support mech for Mahoro named Slash replied in a low deep voiced male tone. He and Ryuga were deep enemies once, but after Ryuga reconciled with Mahoro and began to live as a human a while back, they are slowly becoming allies.

"Well, you know me already, Slash. So, what brings you here anyway?" Ryuga asked. "Is that you're here to clear your head about that Management cyborg I heard Mahoro and Suguru have taken under?"

"She still makes me uncomfortable. I don't like it." Slash said. "They even gave her a name too, they called her Minawa Ando and she's to start masquerading as Mahoro's little sister."

"I got the details from Ms. Shijiko earlier today, but to think Mahoro is pulling a risk like this…she's rather brave doing this without thinking of any possible dangers." Ryuga said. "Do you really intend on killing Minawa in case she pulls something?"

"I've been assigned to protect Mahoro and Suguru from any types of danger, even if a little girl in the form of a Management cyborg comes close to hurting them, I will see to it that she's stopped for good." Slash said before raising his nose up.

"You're heartless, you know that, Slash?" Ryuga asked.

"What about you? You're just as suspicious as I am too about this, aren't you?" Slash asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of thinking Minawa as a threat, but it's like I said before. If she does pull something, I'm right there with you in stopping her." Ryuga said.

"Whatever. We do have other concerns right at the moment." Slash said coldly. "Besides, I know for the longest while that we're both being watched, am I right?"

"Of course, I have sensed him watching me since I left the school. But then again, I'm sure our friend whose also been tailing me would like to share with us who he is working for." Ryuga said seriously as he turned to the shadows and saw the figure stepped out in front of them with a grin on his face. He was wearing a black and gold outlined body suit as both of his cybernetic arms were glowing in the moonlight.

"I have to compliment the two of you, the latest, modeled created combat androids out of both SAINT and VESPER, to have detected me. You are very impressive toys indeed." The figure said to Slash and Ryuga. "But I have to say that this sight sickens me…to think after all that SAINT has done in the past and now they are hoping to have humankind be united with them…they are nothing but murdering hypocrites!"

"You…how dare you say such things about SAINT." Ryuga said to him, as Slash stepped forward. "Identify yourself now so I can commit your face and name to memory."

"If you must know, SAINT scum, I'm Tarant Shank, the most feared space pirate at your service." The man spoke with a grin.

"So, are you another cyborg from the Management?" Slash asked.

"The Management?" Tarant asked before laughing loudly. "Ha, I don't work for those simpletons. Actually, my employers just happen to be the Patriots, my android friends. And soon, they will show them and everyone else who really are the ones in charge when they get their plans kicked off. Just think of me as a little appetizer of things to come. "

(Did he just say the Patriots, the American branch of the Philosophers?) Slash thought to himself. (If they are involved, then we're all going to be in more serious trouble soon.)

"What business you have here in Hiryu city?" Ryuga asked.

"Oh, it's simple actually." Tarant said as he raised his right arm as it began to glow with a yellow radiating energy. "I'm here to raise some hell by trying out these new toys my new bosses gave me, so I don't you don't mind me tearing this city apart doing so."

"Of course, we do. That is why you have to get through us first." Ryuga said, getting into a fighting pose.

"Ha! I was wondering when I can get you to say such sweet words. But alas, I have to warn you that I'm not to be taken lightly." Tarant said as he pulled out three throwing knives and flung them at Slash, who dashed out of the way in time, before Terrant shot three fireballs out of his arm using the Shining Darkness at him. Several small craters can be seen where Slash was.

"That was…!" Slash shouted. "He has the same power Mahoro has!"

"What?" Ryuga asked, now remembering his last battle with Mahoro Ando. He knew the Shining Darkness was dangerous enough if used by the host as it uses the life force of the host to fully unleash its power every time, diminishing it. This was almost the exact same thing, except Terrant's was slightly stronger.

"Now you see what I meant by not taking me lightly, you lowly machines. I have powers far superior than the two of you put together." Tarant said as he charged his fists with more energy. The energy then formed into a chained whip surrounding his metallic arm.

"Have a taste of my real power!" Tarant said as he swung the energy chain whip around, slicing away at the park benches and light-posts, where they were all cut clean and later exploded upon contact.

"Why does he have the Shining Darkness as well?" Ryuga asked, doing his best to dodge Terrant's attacks.

"Beats me. We just have to focus on beating this guy and make him talk afterwards if we ever want to find out anything." Slash replied, as he suddenly increased his body size and a streak of red mane running down his back sprouted out as a large set of thin, razor sharp claws and fangs appeared as well.

"I agree with you on that one, my friend." Ryuga said as he simply loosened his tie and jacket as this fight got serious. Although he didn't have on his armor suit or his energy sword with him, Ryuga excels just as well in areas of hand to hand combat and was very psychically strong to boot.

"Aw, so you want to get serious now, is that it?" Tarant asked with a devious grin. "Then, show me what you both made of, VESPER and SAINT."

Ryuga suddenly dashed in a blur and reappeared above Tarant who shot an energy ball at the SAINT warrior before swinging his chain whip at him, catching him off balance, while Slash leaped at him and pounced on his chest as if he was going for his throat.

However, Tarant quickly kicked off Slash before he got his mark, while Ryuga spun his body while descending and gave Tarant a swift spin kick to his face, before performing a handstand double kick on his chest as he landed. As he was stunned, Slash dashed at him and cut open his arm with his claws, before he was knocked down from a ram of Tarant's cybernetic knee. Tarant recovered from the knockdown and flipped backward away from the two, releasing a string of several energy bolts at Ryuga and Slash, who dodged the projectiles.

"Not bad, I'm beginning to think that I will enjoy doing this." Tarant said as he swung his energy whip at Slash, who evaded the first few swings of his attack, only to be ambushed by a dual set of knives that Tarant hid during the first initial swings as he cut into Slash with them.

"Slash!" Ryuga shouted as he saw Slash took a serious hit. "Why you…"

"Oh, you want to share the same fate as well, SAINT android?" Tarant asked him as Ryuga dashed at Terrant with a punch that sent Terrant flying several feet, before he recovered and threw his whip that suddenly exploded at Ryuga's chest, totally destroying his tuxedo.

"Arrghhhh!" Ryuga grimaced as Tarant grinned at the two.

"Hmph, is this the best that both VESPER and SAINT has to offer? How disappointing. I thought you were the best from both, but it seems that you have ways of proving your worth, isn't it?" Tarant asked. "Let's see if I can spike things up a bit to see if you an at least give me a test for this marvelous new power the Patriots gave me."

He then took a glimpse of a small crowd of people who stopped to see the fighting and an idea hit him.

"And to think the two of you used to feud often. I've never thought I would be able to have to resort to this, but if the need arises…" Tarant powered up his fist as he aimed it them, causing Ryuga and Slash to stop where they were.

"You fight dirty, Tarant!" Ryuga shouted, seeing among the crowd were the same group of schoolgirls he helped earlier that evening at the school.

"What did you expect, SAINT android? I am a pirate, after all." Tarant grinned. "You've gotten soft, taking a liking to and wanting to be just like these humans. Now that weakness will be your greatest failure!"

"Ryuga-sensei, help us!" One of the girls shouted as Tarant went ahead and fired his energy shot at them. The girls closed their eyes before they thought it was the end for them, until…

"Cease this foolishness right now. I will not forgive you for this act against innocent children, you fiend." A stern woman's voice spoke as the girls opened their eyes to see a tall, slender woman with long flowing silver hair stand before them. It was the Steel Angel, Mikhail who stood in front of them, employing a green force-field around herself and the group of schoolgirls.

"What?" Tarant exclaimed as Ryuga and Slash looked on. "Who the hell are you, you broad?"

"I'm Mikhail. Commit that to memory." She said seriously as the schoolgirls behind her ran away to safety while Kaga, Kaori and Tsunami then took their places next to her. "You have no right to go terrorizing a peaceful city like this, so you better make haste and leave before you get gravely hurt."

"Ha! No woman dares tell me what to do!" Terrant shouted. "Eat this!"

Shooting his Shining Darkness energy once more, the group of Steel Angels separated and dashed out of danger quickly as Mikhail leaped over Tarant and ended up landing directly near a stunned Ryuga and Slash.

"Who are you?" Slash asked. "Are you from Management as well?"

"No, but I can assure you that we are not your enemies. We can save the introductions for later, but for now, do you need a hand?" Mikhail asked Ryuga, who quickly nodded at her.

"Yes, but be careful. That power of his is extremely powerful. I've seen it in combat before." Ryuga warned her while trying his best not to get distracted by her graceful beauty. "Will you be alright yourself?"

"Yes, you need not to be concerned." Mikhail replied as Tarant growled at the group of interferers.

"Don't ignore me!" Tarant shouted as he fired another energy shot from his arm, however, Mikhail had already dashed at burst speed towards Tarant who was ambushed with a flying kick delivered by Mikhail's slender looking, yet powerful legs before he could register what was happening.

"What the hell…?" Tarant growled as he was dazed by Mikhail's powerful attack, before he then got flanked by Kaga's explosive boomerang from behind soon afterwards.

BOOM!

"Guuhh!" Tarant cried out, as the explosion caused some major damage to his abdomen, but not before another one of Kaga's explosive boomerangs struck him from behind once more.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared, Tarant shook off the effects of the attack and threw two knives that were charged by the Shining Darkness at Kaga, who easily sidestepped away from danger. Terrant swung his whip at her direction, only to be countered by another strong whip that created a series of craters in front of him.

"You won't be getting away that easily." The pink haired, whip wielding Tsunami spoke as she danced around gracefully, striking the places Tarant stood with her long, leather whip. Not getting the chance to counterattack, Tarant growled at the Steel Angel group as he swung his energy whip at her once more in an attempt to negate her attacks.

"You wench! I will show you that I'm much stronger than you!" Terrant said, as his own whip wrapped itself around Tsunami's arm and sent a detonative charge at her, but it was interrupted in time as Kaori then swung her giant scythe consecutively at Tarant, cutting away his energy whip.

"What? There are even more of you?" Tarrant asked in bewilderment as Tsunami countered a distracted Terrant as she snapped her whip around his arm and flung him over, knocking some wind out of him.

(How can this be? The Shining Darkness is supposed to be powerful, yet…why am I still being defeated?) Tarant thought as he saw the Kaga, Tsunami, and Kaori stood altogether.

"It's a surprise that you managed to last this long." Kaga said to Tarant in a taunting tone. "But if you value your own existence, you will leave this peaceful city and its civilians alone or get hurt really bad."

"I can still defeat you freaks!" Tarant said, getting up with charged up fists. "You have no idea of who're you're dealing with!"

"I see this guy still hasn't gotten it through his head." Kaga said, holding up her boomerang over her head as it increased in size, making it big as her own body size. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

"In case you've failed to realize, you're the one who has no idea what you're facing." Tsunami said, as she started to spin her whip in succession with Kaga spinning her giant boomerang, while Kaori spins her scythe. The three began to focus their energy in creating a trinity type technique as a powerful tornado began to from around them.

"We really don't want to be doing this, but before they can get really serious, you'd better surrender yourself now." Mikhail said from a distance as Ryuga and Slash stood next to her.

(Dammit! I won't be able to last longer against this number of freaks by myself!) Tarant thought as he looked at Mikhail and the accompanying Steel Angels next to her, then angrily back at Ryuga and Slash. He knew the situation was hopeless and that he was being outclassed by these strangers.

"SAINT android, we will finish this next time we'll meet! And mark my words that you all made enemies with the Patriots from this day on! I will not forget this." Tarant said as he took out a stun grenade and dropped it front of everyone, which used the distraction to dash off away from his enemies as Slash tried to pursue him, but was unable to catch up because of the wounds he gotten earlier from Terrant's ambush.

"Great, he got away. If I were able to repair myself any faster now, I could have caught up to him a long time ago." Slash growled as he reverted back to his normal panther form and size. "What the hell is going around here?"

"I have no clue…but it seems we're all going to be facing some bigger problems very soon." Ryuga said simply as he noticed Mikhail, Kaga, Kaori and Tsunami walking towards him and Slash. "Um, whoever you girls are, thanks for the assistance back there. May I ask who are you and why are you're here? Are you androids as well, I've never seen any combat models wield weapons that well before expect for Mahoro herself."

"I've introduced myself as Mikhail before to that madman." Mikhail spoke. "You have to be Ryuga, we were told to look for you by three classmates you may know of, Miyuki Sakura, Rin Todokiri and Chizuko Oe."

(Are they friends with these people?) Ryuga thought to himself as he cleared his throat and replied to the women in front of him.

"I'm Ryuga, of SAINT. Yes, I heard you told Tarant Shank that." Ryuga said, watching her closely. "So, you are not from either VESPER or Management and I don't recall SAINT having androids in your form of appearance before."

"It is true based on that you've seen so far, we are androids. We are known as the Steel Angels, created by the Academy from the future." Mikhail said.

"Did you say from the future?" Slash asked. "How come you guys are doing here in 2007?"

"It's a long and complicated story to begin with, trust us." Kaga said. "The most important thing right now we're worried about is that we got separated from our friends who were also brought along with us to probably this timeline."

"So, they are others like you guys here too?" Slash asked.

"Yes, in fact they are many. But we had some human companions as well who got sent into the time fold as well." Mikhail spoke. "We've been wandering around this city since we arrived earlier today, gathering information of the time period and trying to locate them, but to of no avail. That was when we overheard the fighting and met you guys."

"I see now. To think androids made in the future made by humans were this powerful…I can see how mankind got their first step in such technology from the likes of VESPER." Ryuga said as he examined the group of Steel Angels. "In any case, since this world is as new to you as it is to me for awhile now, I will explain to the best of my ability to every one of you about what is happening around here until we can find your friends or at least, find someone who can do that. However, there really are many facts about this world that needs to be said that will take up time."

Kaga sighed as she and the girls with her nodded with one another. "Seems we have no choice but to play along, huh?"

"That sounds more of a complaint, Kaga." Kaori said. "Besides, he really is cute for a space android, we should stick with him until we can find the doctors and Kurumi's group."

"She's right, Kaga. We're new to this part of the future ourselves, we know nothing about it." Tsunami said as she tried to convince Kaga to think otherwise. "Well, Kaga, should we go along?"

"Guess we should. I still have some debts to pay to that Terrant guy who tried to hurt the civilians if we ever meet again." Kaga said.

"Then we should be taking our leave before the local authorities come and give us too much questions we really should avoid at the moment." Ryuga said as he eyed Mikhail. "Well, Mikhail of the Steel Angels, I should start telling you what I know about the Earth at current."

"Of course. Please, do take all the time you want, Ryuga-san." Mikhail smiled at Ryuga, who simply gulped at her reply. She seemed to have taken a liking to the honorable SAINT warrior android because he was concerned about the schoolgirls that Terrant had threatened during the battle and it seems the other Steel Angels with her falling for him as well. Slash simply smirked as he stood up and walked.

"Well, come on, lover boy. We got to get your new fan club to someone who can help them. Maybe Mahoro can at least sort this thing out if we got over to her place." Slash said as the panther android led the way among the group of attractive female androids and one lone drop dead handsome combat android.

Slowly and surely, these beings of man, alien and machine are being drawn together for a specific purpose that will soon unite them for the cause of Earth's safety from a powerful unknown enemy, but who really is the one responsible for this strange union? And how will it affect Solid's Snake venture later?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Ryuga is so damn cool and lucky to get such admirers, I tell ya. While all that is going on, we can only imagine what scheme Hild has got Mara into planning things and how the Please characters are going to handle Kurumi's group while our buddy Snake is soon to be getting more guests of his own as well, things should get very interesting indeed.

In any case, I just want to take this time to say thanks to the reviewers who have been enjoying the story's progress and most notably to the last recent update, for all of your comments really encouraged me to keep challenging myself in writing this story even further as I only aim to please the fans who read it. I also want to thank DarkFusion and Ominae especially for letting me in on the character info of the Renza girls, as well correcting the spelling for Tarant's name. It came as a surprise to me when I found out one of the voice actresses for the girls was actually the one for Rose in MGS2, what a coincidence since she will be part of the fic later.

Oh, yeah, I also want to thank one of this story's newest fans, CP9 Survivor, for pointing out the missing chapter 3 of this fic some time ago. I would have gotten that problem fixed as soon as I have noticed it while uploading the characters list that I added to the start of the story for new and curious readers a while back, (it was a very troubling process, I tell you) but that was before I got my own computer to do most of my fiction work on, so I had to write it over from scratch! So, in any case, I'm going to re-write that chapter with some new added content and have posted it in its rightful place before I post the next update for sure, so feel free to check it out when that happens to resolve that matter of Snake escaping the Tanker and how he ended up at the Goddess's temple.

Now, time for an Easter Egg for the movie buffs. On the first recent episode of the Peorth arc in the OMG second season TV series, Urd spoke of borrowing Megumi's copy of 'War of the Worlds' once more. To those who did or didn't know it, the 2005 version of War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise was a remake of the 1953 original written by novelist H.G Wells, so I included the details of the first movie as well. I also made it so that Urd said that 'she was into classics' earlier in this chapter, paying a homage to the original movie, but its safe to assume that she also like the recent remake just as well. Another thing is that it happened to be one of the movies Para-Medic mentioned in MGS 3: SnakeEater during radio conversations, so that's where most of the inspiration for that Egg came in for this fic.

Another movie reference was the Versus flick that Otacon mentioned as well. It happened to be a live action Japanese action horror movie directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, an action choreographer and director who actually happens to be a close friend of none other than the Metal Gear series' creator, Hideo Kojima. It may come to a surprise to many that most of the action cinematics in both MGS 2 and MGS 3 were inspired by Kojima's influences from Kitamura's Versus, not to mention that Hideo actually played a cameo as a bandit in the feudal action drama Azumi, which was also done under Kitamura. Check both of these if you can find them, they both are really good quality movies.

Koganei: Wow, Shardclaw. You almost sounded like Para-Medic back there, knowing how these movies can be referred to both Metal Gear and Oh My Goddess that simply.

ShardclawK: Just sharing what useful information I have for the good of this fic, Koganei. I did say I have tons of ideas for it at my disposal, you know.

Koganei: Yes, we are all eager to see what other surprises you have in store for your fans, Shardclaw-san. But, I must warn you not to make these chapters too great or else you will have trouble trying to keep up with the maids from the Hanaukyo mansion that will gang up on you for delivering another marvelous update if Dark-san sends his orders once more.

ShardclawK: Oh, no. I won't be intimidated by that army of maids again. They caught me off-guard because they got the order to ambush me without warning last time, but I made sure that sort of thing won't happen again, especially with the other recent girls in my harem. There's a thing called limits, you know and I have made sure to reconfigure up their messaging system, so no girls will attack me even if I updated with an over the top chapter such as this one.

Just then, Kichijouji entered, holding unto a set of wires and a grin on her face.

Kichijouji: Alright, Koganei, I did as you told me to. I sabotaged the messaging system from the girls to Shardclaw-san, so that all the girls he has got from Dark-san so far will gang up on him wearing nothing but skimpy aprons for delivering another cool update on this story.

ShardclawK: Don't you just hate it when the co-host threats you like this? I'd better make a run for it before I'm ambushed again by the maids…

As a cloud of dust was now only seen where I previously sat, Kichijouji and Koganei both do a high five.

Kichijouji and Koganei: Mission accomplished.

Skuld: But who's going to say something about the next chapter?

Slash: Guess I will have to be the one to say it, since Ryuga's busy at the moment, being lovely dovey with Mikhail and all those Steel Angels with her.

Ryuga: And I said before there are no sexual deviants in SAINT!

Slash: Yeah, sure. Whatever, man. In any case, in the next chapter, problems arise for Snake when more guests and old friends begin to show up, including Urd's old boyfriend. Hmm, I wonder what his reaction will be when finds out Urd is now shacked up with Snake?

Wait a second, only Shardclaw himself already knows for sure. You will just have to wait and see what happens in the next chapter, which should be out pretty soon. See you eager readers then.


End file.
